Students present ethnographic research work on mental health at hospital, toxic industrial waste, pollution of the Indus River, reproductive health etc.

Jamshoro, Sindh

An Interdisciplinary research dissemination symposium under the theme ‘Advances in Public Health, Medical Anthropology, and Health Sciences’ was collaboratively organized by the Faculty of Community Medicine and Public Health, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS) Jamshoro and the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Sindh, Jamshoro.

The collaborative research symposium held at LUMHS aimed to produce new research and knowledge by recognizing and adapting the interdisciplinary approach informed by medical anthropology and public health to address the issues of healthcare and well-being in society and communities.

The central idea of the interdisciplinary research dissemination symposium in the domain of public health and medical anthropology was jointly initiated and conceived by the organizing committee members Professor Dr. M. Ilyas Siddiqui, Chairman Department of Community Medicine and Public Health, and Dr. Gulzar Usman, Associate professor Department of Community Medicine and Public Health, and two anthropologists Dr. Abdul Razaque Channa, Assistant Professor, and Dr. Rafique Wassan, Lecturer at the Department of Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Sindh, Jamshoro.

In the first segment of the symposium, five students of anthropology and Community medicine representing both departments presented their field-based research work followed by a guest speech by Laila Rajani, an anthropologist and a PhD researcher at the University of Edinburgh, UK who is conducting field research on the issue of mental health and suicide in Tharpakrar.

The next session of the symposium featured a panel discussion on the main theme moderated by Dr. Gulzar Usman and the panelists included Professor Dr. Munawar Alam Ansari, Dean of Community Medicine and Public Health Sciences, Prof Muhammad Najeeb Memon, Chairman of the Department of Community Medicine, BMC, LUMHS, Prof. Dr. M. Ilyas Siddiqui, Dr. Fayaz Umrani, a researcher at the Aga Khan University’s Center of Excellence at Matiari, Dr. Jamil Junejo of Psychiatry Department, and anthropologists Ms. Laila Rajani, Dr. Abdul Razaque Channa, Dr. Rafique Wassan. The three BS final year students of anthropology, SU Jamshoro Ms. Kiran Chandio, Maria Maqbool, and Maria Memon presented their ethnographic research work respectively on the topics of mental health in a hospital ward in Hyderabad, toxic industrial waste, pollution of the Indus River and public health problem in Kotri and reproductive health, especially on the issue of C-section at a gynecology ward at LUMHS hospital, and the two researchers of Community Medicine and Public Health. LUMHS Dr. Rafaina Shah and Dr. Samreen Aijaz presented their findings on public health issues.

A large number of students from the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, SU Jamshoro, and Community Medicine and Public Health, LUMHS as well as the faculty members of both departments also joined the research symposium.

The research student presenters and faculty member panelists highlighted the need to develop collaboration between the fields of anthropology and public health in advancing knowledge and addressing health issues. it was highlighted in the panel discussion that medical anthropology’s research frameworks that look at health disparities in the context of social disparities, social determinants, structural factors, and the political economy of health can immensely contribute to advancing knowledge in public health problems. The speakers in the panel discussion session emphasized the development of collaborative thinking and methodology to address health issues. Dr. Gulzar Usman, conducted the proceeding of the research symposium and the LUMHS Community Radio broadcasted the live recording and proceedings of the event. (PR)

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