International conference on healthy ageing to be held in Penang on July 30–Aug 1
KUCHING: The third edition of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Conference on Healthy Ageing 2024 will be taking place at the Wembley Hotel in Penang, this July 30 to Aug 1.
According to event’s organiser Malaysia Healthy Ageing Society (MHAS), the conference this year carries the theme ‘Ageing Successfully – Equitably, Actively and Naturally’, with its aim of forging a path toward understanding and addressing the multifaceted challenges posed by an ageing population.
The Third ACHA will see as many as 22 international speakers, 38 Malaysian speakers and over 500 delegates participating in the three-day programme.
MHAS president cum organising chairperson Prof Dr Shahrul Bahyah Kamaruzzaman said the conference would serve as a platform for healthcare professionals, healthy ageing advocates and the industry, as well as community within Asean to present their latest work and share the best practices and know-how for the betterment of healthy ageing and the older population in the region.
“The conference offers a unique opportunity to share, interact, collaborate, and obtain hands-on skills from healthcare experts in ageing from all disciplines.
“This is delivered via special lectures, workshops, seminars as well as a pre-conference workshop where medical professionals and community members will continue to learn, enhance and enrich their knowledge which will translate to better and improved care for our older persons.
“Symposiums focusing on special population, lessons from the pandemic, digital health, lifestyle interventions, as well as many other interesting sessions are carefully crafted to maximise learning opportunities,” she said, adding that the programmes would cater to the different expectations and aspirations of the delegates.
“With an excellent lineup of international and local speakers, we strongly believe that there is something in store for everyone attending this conference,” she said, adding that the topics covered would also include depression in the elderly, loneliness and social isolation, falls, emotional health, mobility, cancer and incontinence.
On Malaysia’s preparedness for an ageing population, Dr Shahrul Bahyah – also a professor of geriatric medicine at Universiti Malaya’s Faculty of Medicine – said the country began showing signs of investments into the new frontier of aging.
“One of the latest efforts by the government via the World Bank is through its national blueprint on ageing.
“I believe we in MHAS can do more and call on all ministries and relevant stakeholders to promote the agenda for our ageing nation, and this conference timely serves to create awareness and bring all relevant stakeholders together to create an ‘age friendly’ ecosystem within our healthcare system and community.”
In expressing appreciation to the Penang state government and the Ministry of Health for the support shown for the Third Asean Conference, Dr Shahrul Bahyah hoped that other ministries, particularly government agencies involved in the care of the country’s elderly citizens, would send their representatives to the conference.
Among the international and local speakers to be featured at the conference are World Federation of Occupational Therapists president Samantha Shann; Centre of Geriatrics and Gerontology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital director Prof Dr Liang-Kung Chen; Universitas Respati Indonesia (Gerontology) Prof Dr Tri Budi Rahardjo; Consultant of Medical National Cancer Centre, Singapore Associate Prof Dr Ravindran Kanesvaran; and University of Melbourne’s Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry Helen Herman.
The Asean Conference on Healthy Ageing, being the brainchild of MHAS, was first held in Kuching in 2017, and thereafter, in Bali, Indonesia for its second edition in 2019.
For more information, go to www.healthyageing.org/ acha2024/, or contact the organiser via mhas.acha@gmail. com, or via 012-364 6109.