Iwish on behalf of the German-West African Centre for Global Health and
Pandemic Prevention (G-WAC), hosted at the College of Health Sciences,
KNUST, Kumasi to warmly welcome you all to the 11th Biennial Conference
of the College and in partnership with G-WAC. This edition of the CHS
conference is very special to us in two ways: that the selected theme:
“Bridging the Gap: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Strengthening Ghana’s
Health System”
(1) takes the position that multidisciplinary and multisectoral approaches to
research and practice have an important role in addressing the various
health issues, including health security needs; and (2) provides an opportunity for impactful reciprocal
science-policy-practice knowledge transfer.
As a graduate training centre of excellence in Global Health, G-WAC is pleased to share insights of our
research findings and experts addressing the existential threat of global pandemics to the health and
welfare of people especially in Ghana and across the West African sub-region through trans- and inter-
disciplinary research projects targeting both the main drivers of pandemics (e.g. health impact of wild
habitat encroachment, extensive agriculture and climate change, spillover of pathogens from wild animals
to humans) and the key pillars of resilient health systems in the WHO framework (e.g. effective
governance, sustainable financing mechanisms, appropriate human resource capacity, availability of
essential medicines and technology, reliable health information, and responsive health service delivery)
using One Health (multidisciplinary and multisectoral) approaches.
In addition, G-WAC serves as a networking platform for stakeholders from health science, policy and
practice with interest in the West African sub-region. Therefore, through your active participation in the
Conference we hope to have a wonderful exchange and to keep connected with emerging trends and
transformations of the health system of Ghana and also those elsewhere.
We welcome you all once again to the 11th Biennial Conference of the College. Your numerous
contributions – be it questions or practical experiences – will be extremely important for a fruitful discussion
and shaping the conference. Do have a great time here in Kumasi, especially for our international
participants.
Thank you.