2nd IFH CONFERENCE A SUCCESS!
On April 15th and 16th the IFH held its second international conference in New Delhi, India. The scientific meeting “Home hygiene and the prevention of infectious disease in developing countries: a responsibility for all” was organised in association with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Sulabh International Social Service Organisation, the Institution of Public Health Engineers, and the Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine.

Following Indian protocol, the conference opened with an inaugural ceremony. The inaugural party included the Hon. Union Minister for Rural Development (India) Shri M Venkaiah Naidu, the Hon. Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare (India) Dr CP Thakur, the WHO representative of India, Dr Kim Farley, IFH trustee, Eric Buxbaum, the General Director of Hindustan Lever, Art Weijburg,  IFH Board Member Professor Martin Exner, the Chairman of the Conference and IFH Board Member Professor KJ Nath, and the founder of Sulabh International, Dr Bindeswar Pathak. It is estimated that about 350 people attended the inaugural ceremony.

The remainder of the conference was devoted to scientific sessions, poster presentations and discussions.

NEW IFH GUIDELINES RELEASED DURING THE CONFERENCE!
In addressing the delegates, both Dr Thakur and Mr Naidu called for renewed action to raise standards of hygiene practice in the community. At the inaugural ceremony Dr Thakur released the new “IFH guidelines for Prevention of Infection and Cross Infection in the Domestic Setting: focus on home hygiene issue in developing countries   ”. The guidelines represent an adaptation of the first edition of the IFH guidelines to include additional issues, concerns and guidelines for promoting hygiene in the homes of low income groups in developing countries, such as drinking water hygiene, peri-domestic sanitation and human excreta and waste disposal.

THE CONFERENCE STATEMENT AVAILABLE SOON!
The scientific programme started with  an overview session, followed by sessions structured on six themes: home hygiene, hand-washing, food hygiene, water, sanitation and other issues. For each session, international speakers from top health agencies and institutions, including WHO, UNICEF, Worldbank and CDC, gave an analysis of current status and problems and discussed possible solutions and community intervention measures.

In the last session, Dr Sandy Cairncross from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine with the help of Terry Thompson, Adriano Duse, Elizabeth Scott, and Cheryl Thompson presented the conclusions from the meeting. The slides from the final remarks, addressing the need for an integrated approach to hygiene and the potential for development of public–private partnerships, can be downloaded clicking here. The conclusions were the platform for a lively discussion with the audience. A conference statement, which includes the major findings from the conference, is currently being developed.