27
- 28 June 2012 - Conference
29 June 2012 - Post-Conference Symposium
University of Auckland, New Zealand
Invitation from the Conference Convenor
It is my pleasure to invite you to the Fifth International Asian and
Ethnic Minority Health and Wellbeing Conference 2012. The conference is being
hosted by The University of Auckland’s Centre for Asian and Ethnic Minority
Health Research (CAHRE) which is a health research centre in the School of
Population Health within the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences. The
conference will be held at the Tamaki Innovation Campus in Auckland, New Zealand
from the 27th to the 28th of June 2012.
The conference theme is Social Environment, Migration and Health.
We have chosen to focus on health issues experienced by Asian and other Ethnic
Minority communities in New Zealand related to migration and the social
environment for various reasons: migration of these groups to New Zealand has
increased considerably over the last two decades; these populations are growing
rapidly, and their health needs are growing equally. The impacts of social
determinants on health and wellbeing are a concern, not only for ethnic minority
populations in New Zealand, but in all host countries receiving ethnically
different immigrants. We would like to address these issues comprehensively and
thereby broaden our collective knowledge in this field.
We are including a dedicated refugee stream and keynote speaker in our
conference this year, which is being sponsored by the Auckland University of
Technology (AUT). Previous conferences have included refugee issues together
with those of immigrants. We believe that having this separate stream will
provide a platform for in-depth discussion and engagement with those interested
in the health and wellbeing of refugee communities.
The Conference promises to provide a thought provoking and quality programme
which will bring together health care practitioners, researchers, academics,
policy makers, students and both government and non-government stakeholders to
share knowledge and experiences in dealing with the health and wellbeing issues
of Asian and other Ethnic Minority immigrant and refugee populations (recent
arrivals and older) living in New Zealand and other Western countries.
We have gone to great lengths to procure international and national experts from
a wide range of health disciplines to address our conference as keynote and
featured speakers. They will bring to us perspectives from both the northern and
southern hemispheres, which will not only enlighten us, but also challenge us to
view our changing world, and our responses to this world, in a new light.
We will also be holding a post-conference symposium in Auckland on 29th June,
which will target senior managers of DHBs and other health and health-related
organisations who will be invited to attend this event. The symposium will
present health managers with a synopsis of the conference and targeted
presentations by the keynote speakers, and allow them to engage in a discussion
forum aimed at understanding the health needs of ethnic minority communities in
New Zealand and other Western host countries, and at improving health delivery.
In New Zealand, the word Asian is defined as people from Afganistan in the west
to Japan in the east and China in the north to Indonesia in the south. Ethnic
Minority refers to all peoples other than New Zealand European, Maori and
Pacific Islanders. The Centre for Asian and Ethnic Minority Health Research
focuses on the health and wellbeing of peoples of Asian origin and from the
Middle East, Latin America and Africa.
We invite you to come to New Zealand and share your knowledge and expertise with
like-minded people while enjoying the beauty and hospitality of our country.
Dr Amritha
Sobrun-Maharaj
Director, Centre for
Asian and Ethnic Minority Health Research
CAHRE
Caring for the Health and Wellbeing of Asian and Other Ethnic
Minority Communities in New Zealand
