Series 1: Management of Depression, Anxiety and Phobias, 22nd September, 2022
Series 2: Rare Disease: The current and the future, 4th October, 2022
These programmes were a collaborative effort between Pfizer Malaysia Sdn Bhd and three other faculties at UiTM, namely the Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Pharmacy and Faculty of Medicine. Dr. Norkasihan Ibrahim, Deputy Dean, ICAN, Faculty of Pharmacy, UiTM, delivered the keynote address during the programme session. The programmes were primed with a series of webinars and UiTM Health Competition which was conceived to raise awareness about mental health and rare disease. Members of the public, university staff, and students from UiTM and other higher education institutions attended the programmes. It aimed to raise public awareness of the importance of having a good quality of life and knowledge of how to live a prosperous life. The webinar series also improved the methods for dealing with mental health stressors such as financial crises, work-life balance, and social issues. The speakers of the mental health webinar were Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tan Ching Siang, Dean School of Pharmacy, KPJ Healthcare University College, Nilai, Malaysia and Pn. Nur Nadiah Mohamad Rosdi, Psychology Officer, Hospital Al-Sultan Abdullah, UiTM. For the rare disease webinar, Prof. Dr. Teh Lay Kek, Professor & Deputy Director, Integrative Pharmacogenomics Institute, Universiti Teknologi MARA, enlightened the knowledge on rare genetic diseases including both its present state and prospects for the future. Rare diseases are mostly hereditary and impact the complete journey of an individual’s life and 30% of the affected are susceptible to mortality in early childhood. The preventive measures for the future with genetics and gene therapy were well delivered during the webinar. The programmes were well attended with a welcome number of participants throughout Malaysia.