On 7-8 March 2016, the seventh annual Lancet Palestinian Health Alliance (LPHA) conference focusing on the “Health of Palestinians inside and outside the occupied Palestinian territory” was convened in Amman, Jordan. The conference was jointly organized by the Institute of Community and Public Health (ICPH) at Birzeit University and the Faculty of Health Sciences at the American University of Beirut (AUB) in collaboration with the Lancet Palestinian Health Alliance. It was hosted by Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST).
The Conference opening session included welcoming remarks from the organizers and host beginning with Dr. Iman Nuwayhid, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the American University of Beirut; Dr. Abdullatif Abu Hijleh, President of Birzeit University; and Prof. Ahmed Elbetieha Vice President on behalf of Dr. Mahmoud Alsheyyab, President of Jordan University of Science and Technology.
The conference included ten oral presentation sessions: The Social Determinants of Health (2 sessions); Aid Workers and Traumas of War; Chronic Diseases; Nutrition and Lifestyle; the Political Determinants of Health (2 sessions); Palestinian Youth Programming; Environment and Heath; and the Quality of Research Reports. A total of 67 posters were also displayed during two specifically assigned sessions for poster presentations by authors.
Conference presenters came from the occupied Palestinian territory (West Bank and Gaza Strip), Europe, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria, and the U.S. The closing session included announcing the names of the winners of the two best posters and the presentation of a prize to each by Dr. Richard Horton, Chief Editor of the Medical and Public Health Journal, the Lancet.
The conference was funded by the Arab Fund, Medical Aid for Palestinians and the World Health Organization, oPt office, with UNRWA officials facilitating conference arrangements.