Webinar on SRH Programming Response to the COVID-19 Crisis:
Sharing of Experiences from China
Co-Organized by UNFPA, PPD and the National Health Commission of China
Wednesday, 1 April 2020
It is our privilege to inform that PPD, UNFPA and National Health Commission (NHC) of China organized a very successful Webinar under the title “SRH Programming Response to the COVID-19 Crisis: Sharing of Experiences from China” on Wednesday, 1 April 2020 from 12:00–3:30 hours (GMT), 20:00–21:30 hours (Beijing Time) and 08:00 -09:30 hours (New York Time) and corresponding local times in the PPD Member States. PPD circulated the related announcement including the topic, date, corresponding local times, Run of Show and Zoom Link for connecting and participating in the Webinar to PPD member states, UNFPA Programme Countries and other stakeholders. The Webinar convened a panel of experts from the National Health Commission (NHC) of China, Chinese Academy of Engineering and Peking University Third Hospital, and Wuhan Children’s Hospital. These experts had practical experiences in delivering SRH and MCH services while treating patients of COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the webinar focused on assisting pregnant women in coping with COVID 19 following the successful model from China.
The Webinar mainly targeted the technical staff and policy makers from UNFPA Implementing Partners, PPD member states and offered a platform for sharing best practices and constructive discussions on the best ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among pregnant women and their best treatment if infected. 427 professionals from across the world connected with and very enthusiastically and actively participated in the Webinar. The spontaneous curiosity of the technical professionals from the world and flurries of questions directed at the panelists indicated the necessity and usefulness of the webinar. It was also evident that this kind of digital platforms are more effective in sharing the successful experiences, technical expertise and best practices to wider audiences than the capacity building programs that entails travel, accommodation and gathering in one place, particularly at the time of difficulty the world is currenting facing.
Moderated by Mr. Charles Katende of UNFPA, the Webinar was commenced with brief statements made by Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov, Director, Policy and Strategy Division of UNFPA HQ and Mr. Adnene Ben Haj Aissa, Executive Director, PPD. Following the opening statements, three renowned experts from China, who remained constantly engaged in fighting against COVID-19 in Wuhan, the epicenter of the Pandemic, made comprehensive and in-depth presentations on delivering SRH and MCH Service while treating the COVID-19 infected patients focusing specifically on pregnant women. The titles of the presentations and the experts indicate the paramount importance of webinar.
The presentations and presenters were: Fighting against COVID-19 Caring for Pregnant Women & Newborn by Dr. Song Li, Deputy Director-General, Department of Maternal and Child Health, National Health Commission (NHC); Ensuring Maternal and Infant Safety During the Outbreak of COVID-19 – Recommendations by Dr. Qiao Jie, Member of Chinese Academy of Engineering and President of Peking University Third Hospital; Learn from Neonates with COVID-19 – What we do in China by Dr. Zeng Lingkong, Chief Physician, Neonatal Medicine Department, Wuhan Children’s Hospital. We firmly believe that the technical professionals connected and participated in the Webinar from across the world engaged in providing SRH and MCH Services to COVID-19 infected pregnant women have been immensely benefitted from the Webinar.
Presentations have been uploaded on PPD Website, the links of which are: