MANILA, Philippines - Department of Health Secretary Enrique Ona will lead the opening rites of the 13th Asian Conference on Diarrheal Disease and Nutrition (ASCODD) to be held from January 10 to 12 at the Taal Vista Hotel, Tagaytay City.
Joining Secretary Ona for the inaugural ceremonies are Soe Nyunt-U of the World Health Organization (WHO), Mayor Abraham Tolentino of Tagaytay City and Dr Lulu Bravo, chair of the 13th ASCODD.
Launched in February 1981, ASCODD is a bi-annual event that provides a venue for dynamic and interactive sharing of ideas and knowledge with the purpose of re-focusing and increasing efforts to prevent and manage diarrhea, especially among infants, in the Asia Pacific region and beyond.
Happening for the first time in the Philippines, the 13th ASCODD will bring together a broad range of speakers coming from different Asian countries and representatives from the WHO and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) who will share their expertise on the important themes of combating diarrhea and implementing proper nutrition. Rotavirus and diarrhea experts Prof. Miguel O’ Ryan (Chile) and Prof. Raul Velasquez (Mexico) will talk about rotavirus disease and the implementation of rotavirus vaccination in the national immunization program.
With the same goal of developing strategies and promoting efforts to decrease the number of infant deaths caused by diarrhea in line with the Millennium Development Goal 4 of reducing child mortality, Secretary Ona will deliver the keynote speech entitled “Towards Health and Wealth in a Changing World” at this scientific meeting.
To date, ASCODD continues to be a platform for global collaboration and knowledge sharing on the pressing issues of the burden of diarrheal disease and of nutrition interventions.
The 13th ASCODD is organized by the Section of Infectious and Tropical Disease in Pediatrics (INTROP) and the Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, both from the Department of Pediatrics at the Philippine General Hospital, University of the Philippines Manila, in collaboration with the International Society of Tropical Pediatrics-Philippines (ISTP-Philippines).
Participate in this important congress and know more about the prevention and management of diarrhea for infants and children. To join this congress or to learn more about this scientific meeting, call the INTROP office at 526-9167 or 788-5543 or check out www.ascodd.org.