UHS’s Int’l Neonatal Confab sets agenda for best practices

Dubai / EMIRATES BUSINESS

Hosted and organised by the University Hospital Sharjah (UHS), the 4th Paediatric and Neonatal International Conference (PNIC), held in Sharjah, proved to be a significant platform for bringing together international and regional experts to discuss issues affecting neonatal (newborn) children.
The conference was attended by UHS Chairman, HE Abdulla Ali Al Mahyan, Vice Chairman, Dr. Abdul Aziz Al Muhairi, CEO, Michael Stroud and over 250 doctors attended this year’s conference with a number of medical professionals, local and international delegates and other participants. This made the event’s fourth edition the most highly attended yet.
According to a recent UNICEF report, the number of deaths of children under the age of five has been declining in the Middle East region; however, the report alarmingly highlights the fact that 44 per cent of global deaths, for under-fives, occur in the neonatal period – the first 28 days from birth.
Chairman of the conference, Prof Hakam Yaseen, Senior Consultant Neonatologist and Head of the Paediatric Department at UHS, said: “Over the last four years, PNIC has proven to be an event that attracts paediatric doctors and medical practitioners, from around the world, who are keen to keep abreast of new developments in the care and treatment of newborn babies. To this end, the 2016 conference was yet another milestone event for neonatology, setting a clear agenda for best practices in the UAE and wider region.”
Split into four main sessions, the Paediatric and Neonatal International Conference invited some of the world’s foremost experts to highlight and discuss some of the most prevalent complications and medical conditions a newborn child may face.
The first of the four key sessions was titled “Early Diagnosis and Screening for Congenital Heart Diseases”. This was co-chaired by Dr Andrew Ewer, Professor of Neonatal Medicine at Birmingham Women’s Hospital, and Prof. Dr Mike Thomson, Pediatric Gastroenterologist in the UK.
In another core session at the one-day conference, Dr Buthaina Al Marbati, a paediatric consultant from Dubai Hospital, provided updates on the subject of “Cow Milk Intolerance and Allergy Diagnosis”.
Other main topics on the conference agenda included: Paediatric Nutrition; Neonatal Ventilation; Gastro-oesophageal Reflux; Infantile Colic; PPHN – Nitric Oxide Therapy; Diarrhea; Necrotising Enterocolitis; Chronic Lung Disease; and H. Pylori Infection.
In addition to the core sessions, two interactive workshops were held. Dr Muhammad Anwar, from UHS, conducted the first, on the topic of “Clinical Scenarios of Childhood Vaccination”. The second was titled “Functional Disturbances in GIT”.
In his concluding remarks, Prof Yaseen said: “I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to the Organising and Scientific Committee members for their untiring efforts in staging this extremely worthwhile event. I am pleased to note that many of those attending today have already voiced that the conference has been both a stimulating and rewarding experience.”