PRESS RELEASE: August 20 2015
* Please find a programme and biographical information attached.
LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS ON WOMEN’S HEALTH TO
ADDRESS WOMENS HEALTH SEMINAR IN CAPE TOWN ON AUGUST 22 2015
Local and international experts from various medical fields will share knowledge on
women’s empowerment, health and wellness, with a specific focus on Women’s Mental
Health, at a Women’s Health Seminar being hosted in Cape Town on Saturday August 22
2015 by the Mhani Gingi Social Entrepreneurial Network and the 1.6 Million Club South
Africa.
The interactive Women’s Health Seminar to take place at Jubilee Church in Observatory on
Saturday August 22 from 9.30 for 10.00 a.m. 3.0 p.m. will address various aspects of
Women’s Mental Health, which plays a vital role in creating holistic health and well-being.
There will also be a certain emphasis on a holistic and integrative approach to wellness and
health.
A panel of speakers from various fields related to women’s empowerment, health and
wellness will discuss the mental health challenges that need to be met to unlock the great
potential that South African women hold. Participants will deliberate the topic from the
perspectives of Gender-based Violence (GBV), Substance Abuse, Nutrition/Exercise,
HIV/AIDS, Pregnancy and Motherhood (perinatal phase) and Economy/Education.
Integrative Psychiatrist, Siobhan Dawson, will be the panel facilitator.
Local and international experts who will address the Women’s Health Seminar include
Integrative Medicine practitioner, MD Dr Leila Sadien, MB, ChB, speaking on “An
Integrative Approach to Stress Management”.
Professor Gail Hughes, DrPH, MPH,
Professor and Director of South African Herbal Science and Medicine Institute at the
University of the Western Cape, will provide a brief introduction to different perspectives on
mental health. She is also a Board Member of the 1.6 Million Club South Africa.
1
Key speakers from Sweden will include Dr Dorota Religa, MD, PhD, Associate Professor in
the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Division of Neurogeriatrics, at
Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. She will address the seminar on the topic of
“Dementia and Women – as patients and as care-givers”. Professor Solvig Ekblad, licensed
psychologist at Academic Primary Health Care Centre, Head of the Cultural Medicine Unit
in the Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics (LIME) and Professor
in Multicultural Health and Care Research at Karolinska Institutet, will address the topic of
“Global Mental Health: To empower local women's health by a tailor-made and evidencebased lifestyle course”. Alexandra Charles, Founder and President of the 1.6 Million Club,
will provide an introduction to the 1.6 Million Club concept and its global significance.
The Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm is one of the world's leading medical universities. It
accounts for more than over 40 per cent of the medical academic research conducted in
Sweden and offers a broad range of education in medicine and health sciences, according to
the website.
Dr Religa will focus especially on Alzheimer's disease in her address. She will present the
data from her study showing that dementia diagnosis differs in men and women, depending
on age and dementia severity, using data from SveDem, the Swedish Dementia Quality
Registry. Dr Religa's research in the dementia field is mainly financed by the Swedish
Research Council.
“In the countries where families are important for care of elderly and people with dementia,
(it) is usually women that are caregivers. The situation is (similar) in Sweden when society
has responsibility to deliver the care. People employed in care services are still women.
“I do not want to evaluate if is good or bad, but I will give some concrete examples in my
talk of how to make this work easier, (and) how to use research in caring (for) the elderly
and people with dementia,” Dr Religa said.
Professor Ekblad will address the question of why there is increasing interest globally in
women's mental health. About a quarter of all women experience mental health problems
2
during their lifetime. Among the reasons, which have been researched by R Arjadi et al
(2015) and SM Williams et al (2005), is a growing awareness of disability burdens. Another
reason
is
limited
resources
and
access
to
mental
health
care.
Also, the economic consequences of mental health problems are becoming clearer, Professor
Ekblad said. Other reasons include the link between mental health and human rights issues
and the fact that online interventions are scarce in low and middle income countries
(LMICs).
Professor Ekblad will also discuss possibilities for collaboration, between the 1.6 Million
Club South Africa and the 1.6 Million Club Sweden and 2.6 Million Club Sweden, on a
health promotion intervention for women in the South African context. “During our visit,
as a first step, we will give knowledge and share experiences of the concept for a health
promotion intervention to women in the South African context,” she said.
What is important to pay attention to, adds Professor Ekblad, is the success of the promising
collaboration forged between researchers at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and a nongovernmental organisation (NGO), the 1,6 and 2,6 Million Club.
The interactive Women’s Health Seminar and Women’s Health Brunch taking place on
Saturday August 22 is the final in a series of three inspiring and informational seminars and
the culmination of a special focus on Women’s Mental Health to mark Women’s Month in
August 2015.
The first seminar took place on July 25 in Tambo Village. The seminar focused on Women’s
Mental Health and Substance Abuse and was addressed by Dr Sadien, on the topic of
“Pregnancy and Stress”, as well as by other speakers.
The second interactive women’s health seminar took place on August 1. The seminar
focused on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and was hosted by Mhani Gingi and the 1.6
Million Club South Africa together with the Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and
Children. The seminar took place at the Saartjie Baartman Centre in Manenberg.
3
Key speakers at the seminar included psychologist, Charl Davids, who provided “An
Introduction to GBV”.
A representative of the South African National Council on
Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, SANCA, Mariam Landers, addressed the topic of
“Substance Abuse & GBV”. Another speaker shared her personal story of hope.
The Mhani Gingi Social Entrepreneurial Network is a non-profit organisation (NPO) that
works towards economic empowerment and freedom for women and youth, as vulnerable
groups in society, by providing entrepreneurial skills to enable them to create sustainable
livelihoods for themselves.
Mhani Gingi’s focus on health is directly linked to the organisation’s mission to promote
entrepreneurial skills to enable people to escape poverty. The health focus is also a result of
the organisation’s integrated and holistic approach to solving social problems.
“Our emphasis on health links to the economic empowerment and freedom of women
because if they are not healthy, they cannot work,” said Founding Director of Mhani Gingi
Social Entrepreneurial Network, Lillian Masebenza.
“And if they are not economically free, people are bound to be victims of mental illness,
youth unemployment and low self-esteem, and so of course what happens is that they
become stressed and vulnerable to disease,” Masebenza said.
Mhani Gingi has strengthened its focus on health through collaboration with the 1.6 Million
Club Sweden, resulting in the formation of the 1.6 Million Club South Africa.
The 1.6 Million Club South Africa is the sister organisation of the international women’s
health promotion organisation, the 1.6 Million Club, which raises awareness and spreads
information concerning women’s health and lifestyle issues as well as lobbying for equal,
gender-based, medical research.
4
The 1.6 Million Club South Africa was launched in Cape Town on February 17 2015. The
1.6 Million Club South Africa is significant for being the first 1.6 Million Club on the African
continent.
The 1.6 Million Club was founded in Sweden in 1998 by Alexandra Charles, who has been
President ever since.
She was inspired by the cardiologist, Professor Karin Schenck-
Gustafsson, and Professor of gynaecology, Professor Britt-Marie Landgren, who could both
tell how male-dominated the field of research was and how women were discriminated
against within the health care sector.
With the purpose of improving and creating equal research and health care, and in order to
spread objective information, the 1.6 Million Club was established. The name came about
because, at the time, there were 1.6 million women over 45 years of age in Sweden. Ten
years later, the 2.6 Million Club was established for younger women, from 25 years and
upwards.
To book a seat please contact 1,6 Million Club South Africa Programme Coordinator, Karin Eriksson. E-mail: millionclubsa@gmail.com. Telephone: 074 890 1887.
CAPTIONS:
1. Dr Dorota Religa, Associate Professor in the Division of Neurogeriatrics at the Karolinska
Institutet in Stockholm
2. Lillian Masebenza, Founding Director of Mhani Gingi Social Entrepreneurial Network
3. Professor Solvig Ekblad, licensed psychologist at Academic Primary Health Care Centre, Head of
the Cultural Medicine Unit in the Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics
(LIME) and Professor in Multicultural Healthcare Research at the Karolinska Institutet Image
credit: Mattias Ahlm
4. Alexandra Charles, Founder and President, 1,6 Million Club Sweden
5. Professor Gail Hughes, PHD, MPH, Professor and Director of South African Herbal Science
and Medicine Institute at the University of the Western Cape
_______________________________________________________________________
5
Press release issued by Mhani Gingi Social Entrepreneurial Network.
For further information about Mhani Gingi:
Please contact Lillian Masebenza, Founding Director of Mhani Gingi Social Entrepreneurial
Network: Telephone: 021 531 8577 or 082 465 4687.
See online:
http://www.leadersinwellness.co.za/articles/empowering-women-with-wellness-15322.html
Website addresses:
http://www.mhanigingi.co.za
http://www.millionslubsa.wordpress.com
http://www.saartjiebaartmancentre.org.za
More about Mhani Gingi:
Mhani Gingi Social Entrepreneurial Network is a non-profit organisation that strives to
provide innovative business solutions that are sustainable and profitable and contribute
towards alleviating poverty in South Africa. At the heart of the Mhani Gingi model is the
empowerment of women to develop small, social enterprises through a variety of incomegenerating activities, such as gardening projects, arts and crafts, as well as tourism businesses.
Mhani Gingi’s collaboration with the 1.6 Million Club is based on the synergies that exist
between the two non-profit organisations, which are passionate about women's
empowerment, health and well-being. The 1.6 Million Club Sweden brings out rich research
results on women's health because of their liaison with the Karolinska Institutet of research
in Sweden – one of Europe's largest and most prestigious medical universities. The institute
appoints the laureates for the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine.
With this collaboration, Mhani Gingi is "Walking the Talk", since the collaboration is a
sequel to their role as the Fair Host of the inaugural Women’s Innovation Trade Fair
(WITF) held in Cape Town in March 2014, where health was one the main pillars of the
deliberations. Mhani Gingi is not satisfied until they see viable and sustainable results in
terms of women’s holistic empowerment. http://www.mhanigingi.co.za
6
More about the 1.6 Million Club South Africa:
The 1.6 Million Club South Africa is the sister organisation of the international non-profit
women's health organisation, the 1.6 Million Club Sweden. The ambition of the 1.6 Million
Club South Africa is to become a platform for Knowledge Sharing and Awareness Raising
focusing on girls and women’s health and well-being. The club is becoming a vehicle
whereby knowledge from experts and academic institutions is transferred to those who are
most in need of it. The 1.6 Million Club South Africa organises and facilitates this
interaction. http://www.millionslubsa.wordpress.com
Listen online to Dr Schenck-Gustafsson (1.6 Million Club Sweden) interviewed at the launch
by radio presenter Shado Twala of SAfm at http://iono.fm/e/148890?autoplay=1
Hear Alexandra Charles and Lillian Masebenza in conversation with Shado Twala about the
1.6 Million Club on SAfm at http://iono.fm/e/141117?autoplay=1
Read online about the 1.6 Million Club South Africa in Leaders in Wellness magazine
at http://mags.capemedia.co.za/liw/13 (Issue: 13, March 2015, pages 31-33)
More about the 1.6 Million Club and the 2.6 Million Club:
The 1.6 Million Club is a non-profit women's health organisation which primarily raises
awareness and spreads information concerning women’s health and lifestyle issues as well as
lobbying for equal, gender-based, medical research. The 1.6 Million Club was founded in
Sweden in 1998 by Alexandra Charles, who has been President ever since. She was inspired
by the cardiologist, Professor Karin Schenck-Gustafsson, and Professor of gynaecology,
Professor Britt-Marie Landgren, who could both tell how male-dominated the field of
research was and how women were discriminated against within the health care sector.
With the purpose of improving and creating equal research and health care, and in order to
spread objective information, the 1.6 Million Club was established. The name came about
because, at the time, there were 1.6 million women over 45 years of age in Sweden. Ten
7
years later, the 2.6 Million Club was established for younger women, from 25 years and
upwards. The 1.6 and 2.6 Million Clubs share the same objective, and anybody over the age
of 18 is welcome as a member in the association, including men.
The 1.6 Million Club Sweden and 2.6 Million Club Sweden have about 33 000 members,
making them one of the country's largest non-political women's associations. The club has
sister organisations in Denmark, Finland, Germany Norway and now South Africa, as well as
networks in EU Brussels and Saint Petersburg. http://www.1.6miljonerklubben.com
8