14th Kemri annual scientific and health conference starts

The 14th Kenya Medical Research Institute Annual Scientific and Health (KASH) Conference has started.

The four-day conference which is taking place at Safari Park has been organised under the theme, 'Harnessing biomedical research innovations and big data for health system resilience, local manufacturing and commercialisation'.

KASH chair Dr Cecilia Mbae said the theme underscores the commitment by Kemri to advancing healthcare through cutting-edge research and utilisation of transformative technology.

The conference stands as a cornerstone in Kemri's annual calendar of events.

The conference brings together researchers, collaborators both local and international, various stakeholders, partners and policy makers to share information.

"We are looking forward to a very busy conference and we are very happy to report that this year we received a total of 364 abstracts and this is an exponential growth from last year where we received 253 abstracts," Mbae said.

The abstracts have been received from various countries outside Kenya including Uganda, Tanzania, the US, Netherlands, Germany and Ghana which will be presented during the conference.

The abstracts will be presented in 287 oral presentations and 77 poster presentations.

In addition, there will be 10 plenary talks from various scientists every morning addressing various issues in the areas of health research.

"In recognition of the significance of nurturing the young scientists, we have dedicated a session to young investigators where we allow upcoming scientists training at various levels to be able to present their research findings among themselves in a very competitive way and will be recognized at the end of the conference," Mbae said.

The aim objective of the conference is to facilitate a platform for a better understanding of government priorities to help fuel innovative financing, service delivery mechanisms and concrete actions that will improve access to affordable essential medicines to all while at the same time catalysing local production.

It also aims to provide an opportunity to share lessons learned from the region and to showcase Kemri's products and innovations.

The conference also seeks to strengthen collaborations and networking among relevant policymakers, regulators, industry and the scientific community.