RURAL HEALTH DEVELOPMENT IS A RELEVANT TOPIC TO THE CURRENT CONDITION OF INDONESIA
Global health architecture is one of the priority issues discussed at the Indonesia G20 Presidency 2022. The conference discussed the efforts and commitment of leaders in economic and health recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic. In order to strengthen global health, qualified health human resources are needed to increase people’s access to health services. One way is to integrate education and health systems through the Academic Health System (AHS).
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia (FKUI) Prof. Dr. dr. Ari Fahrial Syam, SpPD-KGEH, MMB., said, “Health development in rural areas is a topic that is very relevant and in line with Indonesia’s current conditions.” FKUI is still making efforts to create equality in the education system and health services in underdeveloped areas,” he said.
Prof. Ari continued, through the government program listed in the Joint Decree between the Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology and the Minister of Health regarding AHS, new input was needed from a number of parties with different backgrounds and experiences. This can be used as a reference for domestic health practitioners. He conveyed this to The Alliance of Academic Health Centers International (AAHCI) Southeast Asia Regional Meeting 2023, which was held on January 11-12, 2023 at Hotel Aryaduta, Badung, Bali.
“AAHCI is here as an event to exchange information and ideas from world health experts and practitioners in order to accommodate health development in Indonesia,” said the Regional Ambassador of AAHCI for the Southeast Asia Region. This year, FKUI was hosting AAHCI Southeast Asia (SEA) Regional Meeting 2023 with the theme “Partnership for Preparedness: Improving Response and Recovery in the Southeast Asia Region and Globally”, with 27 experts as speakers and facilitators. They came from nine member countries, which are Indonesia, the United States, Thailand, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, and Malaysia.
The alliance discussed five topics, including Infectious Disease Threats in the 21st Century: Preparedness and Response; Academic Health Centers and Urban Health, Residency Programs: The Importance of Identity Formation and Growth; Burnout and Well-being: Training, Supporting, and Adapting; The Specialist Gap: Responding to Urban and Rural Area Needs; and Leadership Training for the Transforming Academic Health Center. Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada, dr. Yodi Mahendradhata, M.Sc., Ph.D., FRSPH., said that distributing doctors and specialists equally in Indonesia is not an easy job. The synergy of various parties is needed to discuss the best contribution that can be made, one of which is related to the implementation of the AHS concept which accommodates the integration of education and health services through cross-sectoral collaboration – universities, teaching hospitals, and local governments.
According to him, AHS can facilitate the interconnectivity of health sector stakeholders to carry out cooperation in the field of medical education, translational research related to priority health issues, integrated health services, and developing innovations related to strengthening community health. Campus involvement is very important in ensuring the most appropriate resources to support the running system. University research and innovation support is also needed to ensure that the parties involved – the local government and teaching hospitals – make a contribution according to the existing problems, he said again.
Another speaker, Prof. Pattarachai Kiratisin, MD, Ph.D, the Vice President for Research, Mahidol University, Thailand, who is an expert in medical education, delivered “Antibiotic Resistance: Silent Pandemic”, stating that the World Health Organization (WHO) places antimicrobial resistance in the top ten global health threats. Misuse (taking the right drug but not according to the dosage and conditions) of antimicrobials is the main cause of resistance.
According to him, as a tropical climate, Southeast Asia is the area that is most prone to the transmission of bacterial infections. Inappropriate treatment to that has the potential to trigger wider resistance and transmission.
The issue of burnout which is often found in medical students and residents was specifically discussed in one of the speech sessions. Margaret C. McDonald, Ph.D., MFA, Associate Professor of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, United States of America, in her presentation on “Medical Student Burnout and Well-Being – What Our Institution Can Do”, explained factually that burnout is more often found in medical students when compared to other students from different fields. This is because the medical education system always demands perfection for the sake of human life.
AAHCI Southeast Asia Regional Meeting 2023 is the fourth regional meeting held by FKUI since its appointment as AAHCI Southeast Asia Regional Office in 2018. AAHCI is an alliance of world medical education institutions that are part of The Alliance of Academic Health Centers (AAHC), a non-profit organization based in the United States that focuses on community well-being and health. AAHCI’s mission is to develop the full potential of every world health institution in realizing global health stability through optimizing the education system, health services, and research.
Author: Public Relations of FKUI| Editor: Mariana
