Latin American health topic of event

A symposium about health care in Latin America will be from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. today in the Big 12 Room of the Kansas Union on Kansas University’s campus.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will feature speakers who will talk about careers abroad, the health care systems of the countries where they worked, and health care initiatives. Among the 10 presentations:

• “An Orientation and Development of Programs for Individuals with Spinal Cord Injuries in Peru” by Glen White, professor of applied behavioral science

• “KUSM-Wichita Family Medicine Faculty Physician Exchange in Paraguay” by Dr. Rick Kellerman, from KU Medical School in Wichita

• “Practical Resources for Community Health and Development in Latin America” by Christina Holt, associate director for Community Tool Box Services of the KU Work Group for Community Health and Development

Richard Senghas, professor of anthropology at Sonoma State University, will deliver the keynote presentation, “Language and Policy: Exclusion and Access for a Nicaraguan Deaf Community.”

The event also will feature a poster display highlighting health care activities in Latin America, including tobacco cessation interventions among Costa Rican pharmacists and cancer awareness and advocacy in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The symposium is being hosted by KU’s Center of Latin American Studies. For more information, visit the department’s website at latamst.ku.edu.