Several of our MCH students attended the 2021 American Public Health Association (APHA) conference, October 24-27, in-person or online. What follows is a post from one of the attendees.
By Sailaja Dokku, BA
When I first heard of the opportunity to attend APHA, I was intimidated to be at the center of Public Health where some of the most influential professionals would gather. I was unsure about whether I would be able to follow, and whether I, as a student, could engage at the same level, but these worries were needless.
The opening of the conference had a heavy emphasis on racism and its cost and the keynote speaker, Heather McGhee, quite beautifully described how fighting racism needs to be at the forefront in order to achieve public health goals. Between the rush of classes, sad statistics, and overall chaos, sometimes it is easy to lose track of the overflowing optimistic energy that I brought with me to Tulane. The keynote speech was just what I needed to get pumped and back to feeling like a significant cog in the wheel with much to contribute to the larger community.
I packed my schedule intending to collect as much information as I could before leaving Denver and I was amazed at the diversity in topics that were being presented. The best part, though, was that the 15 minute presentations meant that I could retain more than I thought possible and allowed exposure to so many studies. For me, the session with the most novel information was a gender panel with four topics: men’s support for family planning in Ethiopia, women in extreme poverty living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya, gender dimensions of tuberculosis in Tanzania, and non-partner violence in informal settlements in Kenya. The majority of these presentations gave perspectives that are not often spoken about because, when it comes to gender disparities, we are usually inclined to concentrate on women, and when it comes to violence, we focus more on intimate partner violence. I did not know what I was looking for at the start of the conference, but this was exactly what I came for!
Sailaja Dokku, BA, is an MPH candidate concentrating in Maternal and Child Health in the Department of Social, Behavioral and Population Sciences at Tulane University and is planning to graduate in May 2023. Her interests include sexual and reproductive rights, global health equity, and midwifery and doula-centered care. She enjoys painting, dancing, and reading.
