Dear Dr Machando,
Good day,
As I announced today at the HIV and mental health integration meeting between WHO and partners in Zimbabwe. Kindly share with the participants who were at the meeting today, also invite your professional colleagues and contacts that might be interested.
I would like to invite you to join HIFA (free) in readiness for a global conversation starting on 5 February 2024.
'Alcohol consumption contributesto 3 million deaths each year globally as well as to the disabilities and poorhealth of millions of people. Overall, harmful use of alcohol is responsiblefor 5.1% of the global burden of disease.' World Health Organization
HIFA is bringing together all stakeholders with an interest in alcohol use disorder to explore how t obuild a world where *every* person has access to reliable information on the prevention, diagnosis and management of alcohol use disorder. We shall be looking at the information needs of health workers, the general public,patients and policymakers.
The discussion will take place onthe HIFA forums, a global health community of more than 20,000 stakeholders in 180 countries, representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem, interacting in four languages, and working in official relations with WHO.
We shall explore the following questions (among others):
1. Do people understand the health, socio-economic and environmental harms of alcohol? What matters to them? How can they be better informed? How to reduce stigma?
2. Do health workers have adequate knowledge to prevent and manage alcohol use disorders among their patients? What matters to them? How can they be better informed?
3. What is the role of the alcohol industry? What can be done to address misinformation from the alcohol industry?
4. Do public health professionals and policymakers have adequate knowledge to prevent and treat alcohol use disorders in their country? What are current national policies and what more can be done to fully implement those policies?
5. How can we define and measure alcohol use disorders?
To join the discussion, if you are not already a HIFA member, please join us! www.hifa.org/joinhifa
We shall host parallel discussions on HIFA-French, HIFA-Portuguese and HIFA-Spanish, as well as our dedicated child health forum (CHIFA) in English. Please see our website for details: www.hifa.org The discussion will continue for 6 weeks to allow thorough exploration of the issues.
Acknowledgement: HIFA is grateful for sponsorship from the Ulrich and Ruth Frank Foundation forInternational Health known online as NextGenU.org. NextGenU.org offers freehealth science certificate courses, and a free/low-cost Master’s degree inPublic Health to learners in every country and provides over 800,000 learningsessions each month.
Kind regards,
Enock
HIFA profile: Enock Musungwini is a distinguished public health professional, health management consultant, and development practitioner currently serving as a Programme Manager (Consultant) for an NGO called Pangaea Zimbabwe under the Wild4Life Health program responsible for program management, oversight, supervision, coordination, and leadership. He holds an MSc in Public Health with a Research award from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), achieved under the prestigious British Chevening scholarship (2018-19 cohort). His educational background also includes a Master’s in Business Administration, BSc Hons in Psychology, Diploma in Nursing Science, Diploma in Public Relations and Communication, and a Postgraduate Certificate in Health Management and Leadership. Enock actively serve as a Reference Group Committee member for the Africa Evidence Network, Steering Committee member for the International Network for Government Science Advice Africa Chapter, member of the Consortium for Universities of Global Health and Country Representative for Healthcare Information for All (HIFA).
Enock has received numerous accolades including being appointed Brand Ambassador and receiving the Growth and Innovation award for Pangaea Zimbabwe (June 2023), Country Representative of the Year by HIFA (April 2023), Chevening Volunteers Gold Award by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (June 2019), and the Zimbabwe Achievers Chairman’s Award (Nov 2019). His academic excellence is reflected in awards such as the Amanda Jacklyn Berger Prize for his MSc Research project by LSHTM (Feb 2020) and the Marie Stopes Clinics Champion Award (Jan 2017). Enock's dedication to personal development led to his nomination for Ten Outstanding Young Persons in Zimbabwe under the Personal Improvement Category by Junior Chamber International (Oct 2019). Enock Musungwini has made presentations at national, regional, and international conferences and contributed significantly to public health discourse through his blogs and opinion pieces on various topics.
