Prolepsis at the International Congress on Rural Health in the Mediterranean and Balkan Countries titled “From Transition to a Sustainable Development Healthy Farmers producing Healthy Food in a Healt

Prolepsis was present at the International conference on rural health “From Transition to a Sustainable Development Healthy Farmers producing Healthy Food in a Healthy Environment” which was held in Tirana, Albania, from the 22nd to the 25th of September 2010.

On behalf of Prolepsis scientific team, in her speech titled “Training-of-trainers on Health and Safety for Young Farmers”, Ms Afroditi Veloudaki presented the educational tool on farmers’ health that the Institute developed and applied as part of a 10-day vocational training seminar that took place in Skopje targeting young farmers. The program was organized in February 2010 by “Foundation Eurocenter” and funded by the World Bank and specifically the “Youth Innovation Fund 2009” of the Eastern and Central Asia Department. The aim of the training tool was to contribute to the knowledge, prevention and protection of young farmers and their families from the occupational risks that threaten their health. Ms Veloudaki presented the training tools for the 8 thematic modules, described the seminars and discussed the results of the program’s evaluation. 

The new EU co-funded project “Promote Vaccinations among Migrant Populations in Europe, PROMOVAX” coordinated by Prolepsis was also presented during the conference’s parallel session “Migration and Health”. Ms Veloudaki, on behalf of Dr. Eleni Patrozou, project manager and internist/infectious disease specialist, offered a comprehensive presentation of the project, its goals and expected results. PROMOVAX, which officially started in the summer of 2010 with the participation of 23 international organizations, aims to promote immunizations among migrant populations in Europe.

Finally, Prolepsis presented a paper concerning the promotion of health weight among women working in rural areas. The paper was titled “Guidelines for promoting healthy weight – the role of women working in rural areas” and presented by Ms Pania Karnaki a Health Promotion Specialist. The main aim of the presentation was to show evidence of the increase in obesity rates observed among women working in rural areas. Although rural life is thought to be conducive to physical and mental wellbeing rural populations – especially women – do present certain health compromising conditions such as obesity. Ms Karnaki stressed the importance of the factors that contribute to obesity namely lifestyle changes such as unhealthy nutrition and lack of physical activity but also the changing nature of work which has become increasingly sedentary. The presentation discussed guidelines for the prevention of obesity referring to specific occupations such as office employees.