Jamaican-born infectious disease expert Dr. Upton Allen keynote speaker for JDTAN Health Summit

The summit, led by Jamaica Diaspora Health Taskforce, will be held at George Brown College Waterfront Campus, from August 29-31, 2022.

Fay Lim-Lambie, Dean of Centre for Health Sciences and Centre for Community Services & Early Childhood, George Brown College, is this year’s patron.

Keynote Speaker for the summit is Dr. Upton Allen, chief, division of infectious diseases, Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Toronto. Dr. Allen is a Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto as well as a senior associate scientist in the Research Institute, Hospital for Sick Children. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, UK.   In 2021, he was honored with the appointment as Commander, Order of Distinction, Jamaica. Dr. Allen leads research studies addressing different aspects of COVID-19, including but not limited to, the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 among African Canadians.

Topics will include advancement in healthcare; surveillance and data management; oral and dental health professional ethics; mental health; aging and wellness; sickle cell and pain management; emerging healthcare challenges; vision care; adoption of technology as a post COVID response strategy and inter-sectoral collaboration across health professionals.

Dr. Christopher Tufton, minister of Health & Wellness, Jamaica, is among many who have thrown their support behind the event.

“I am pleased to endorse the health summit for 2022,” he said. This is an important occasion as healthcare professional and partners of public health gather for knowledge sharing and adopting to the new normal. The Jamaican Government has accepted that delivering appropriate care to the majority of the population now requires a paradigm shift from episodic, short-term interventions to long-term, comprehensive integrated care for those with continuing care needs. It is therefore essential that in public health, we have the platform to share insight into disease trends and risk factors, together with outcomes of treatment. Additionally, we emphasize the importance of wellness, as health is more than the absence of diseases, as such we must seek additional opportunities to engage various sectors of the society."

Dr.  Sylvanus Thompson, chair of the Canadian Secretariat for the summit remarked: “This summit, the second, of its kind for JDTAN in 2022, will focus on relevant aspects of healthcare for Jamaica based on assessed needs through panel discussions and presentations.  We are happy to open this opportunity to our Jamaican healthcare professionals which will see a number of them in attendance. The presentations will be rich and robust and are geared towards helping to build capacity and assisting our homeland into the post pandemic era.”

Leo Gilling, chairman, JDTAN said: “I am extremely grateful to the sponsors and partners such as George Brown College, the Nursing Association of Jamaica, Humber College Faculty of Health Science and Wellness, the Jamaican Canadian Association of Nurses, Dr. Lancelot Brown Dental, Black Creek Community Health Centre and Canadian Friends - St Thomas Health Care Organization, for their generous contributions to this important event.  At the end of the event medical professionals from Jamaica will return home refreshed and enriched.”

“The upcoming health summit promises to be enriching and exciting. We look forward to a successful event in Canada,” said Dr Beverly Fray, chairperson of the Jamaica Diaspora Health Taskforce.