The 12th Nepal Public Health Foundation Lecture “My Unfinished Journey of Learning” was delivered by Prof. Dr. Sharad Raj Onta, an outstanding public health expert.

The lecture provides us with a glimpse of a deep reflection of his development and experiences and gives us a valuable insight profoundly useful for health professionals and students who are taking their first steps in the journey to the world of Public Health.

Dr. Onta is a pioneer in public health and is currently, the President of Physicians for Social Responsibility Nepal (PSRN). He has published several scientific publications both in national and international journals and has also, served as the chair at Resource Centre for Primary Health Care and was also the Former Assistant Dean of the Institute of Medicine (IOM). Additionally, he is one of the founding members of Nepal Public Health Foundation as well as the Member Secretary of Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC) and has been involved in many other National and International forums and organizations.

Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic situation and its restrictions the 12th lecture series was carried out via google meet video conference. A great number of participants from public health professionals to students were present. A welcome speech was given by the executive chief Dr. Mahesh K Maskey along with the introduction of the keynote speaker, Prof. Dr. Sharad Onta.

Prof. Dr. Sharad Onta conducted the lecture by sharing his extensive knowledge and insightful experiences. After the lecture, a short interactive discussion and Q&A session was carried out between the participants and the speaker. In the interaction session following the lecture, former president Dr. Rita Thapa and founding member Prof. Arjun Karki had participated in the discussion with their questions and comments.

A vote of thanks was conveyed from the vice president, Dr. Lochana Shrestha and the programme was formally concluded by Dr. Aruna Uprety. For the ongoing lecture series, Dr. Badri Raj Pandey has kindly done the honours of funding the programme with a generous amount of NRs. 1 Lakh as the programme fund.

As we have stated before, in these lecture series the speakers are free to express their opinion related to any subject matter of the lecture. We at the same time would like to make it clear that these opinions are not the formal position of NPHF. In this way, NPHF hopes to provide a forum for differing opinions and lively discussion while at the same time ensuring a culture of debate that would lead to consensus for the common agenda of public health.

The screen recording of the lecture series can be found on Youtube with the above link.