On 12-13 February 2023, the Faculty of Public Health Universitas Indonesia (FPH UI) as the host and the University of Tokyo as the co-host brought the theme of “Public Health Resilience in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Innovative Approach and Best Practice in Facing the Challenges.” The conference included various Public Health topic areas, including Epidemiology, Occupational Health and Safety, Health Administration & Policy, Environmental Health, Health Communication, Public Health Nutrition, Biostatistics, Health Tourism, and others.
The conference consisted of three events: (1) a pre-conference seminar for graduates and postgraduate students, (2) oral and poster presentations, and (3) publication in several Scopus or SINTA-indexed journals. Participants included presenters from 9 out of 15 AUA member universities. Altogether 116 abstracts were submitted from AUA member universities and will be included in the abstract book. The full papers submitted by the participants will be published in 15 journals that have collaborated with Universitas Indonesia.
Before the opening ceremony, the Faculty of Public Health Universitas Indonesia (FPH UI) organized an event called “paper writing clinic”. This pre-conference event brought highly reputable speakers that shared their expertise and experience in writing and publishing. This one-day event targeted a wide range of students at any stage of their writing.
The opening of the conference took place smoothly and was greeted happily by all conference attendees.
After the opening ceremony took place, the first activity was a keynote speech by drg. Agus Suprapto, M.Kes, an Expert Staff for Human Development and Cultural Affairs of RI. He presented the topic regarding “Intersectoral Coordination Experience in Policy Implementation and Innovation to Improve Indonesian Public Health Quality”. In solving the COVID-19 problem, drg. Agus Suprapto said that ministries in Indonesia are working together to form a strategy to deal with COVID-19 and succeeded in forming several policies.
In the plenary session on the first day of the conference, a guest speaker Prof. Tjandra Yoga, one of the professors at the Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia, and former Director of Communicable Diseases WHO Southeast Asia. He presented the topic "The importance of Public Health approaches in facing global emerging diseases on secondary health care". He emphasized that the world needs to be prepared for a new pandemic that will come.
Prof. Akira Yasukouchi from Kyushu University conveyed the topic of "Introduction of physio-anthropological evaluation of human adaptability to the artificial environment".
During an online symposium that carried the topic of green hospitals and sustainability, three experts mentioned that hospitals and healthcare services need to become significantly more proactive in leading the transformation to net zero carbon emissions because the journey will also reduce the burden on hospitals and health systems.
Another activity, Symposium: Green Construction, emphasized the need for calculating carbon emissions in order to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. In his presentation, Mr. Firansyah shared information regarding the implementation of green construction by PT. Nindya Karya, in the form of NICAF (a software for calculating carbon emissions in construction activities in the Nindya Karya).
On the 2nd day of the conference, during the Plenary Session dr. Heru Kasidi, M.Sc, (Chief of Pita Putih Indonesia) has delivered an issue about climate change and its impact on Maternal and Neonatal Health (MNH). Prof. dr. Zubairi Djoerban, Sp.PD-KHOM (Internist – Specialists of Hematology and Oncology, Universitas Indonesia) shared information about HIV/AIDS situation and management in Indonesia.
In the last plenary session, three speakers who are experts in their respective fields discussed the COVID-19 problem from various perspectives. Each speaker brought up different topics as follows:
1) Current Situation of Global and Indonesian Children's Malnutrition delivered by a nutrition specialist for UNICEF Indonesia, David Colozza.
2) Lesson Learned from COVID-19 Handling in Indonesia: Policy, Implementation, Evaluation, and Recommendations for Policy Changes or Updates based on Regional Perspective. Speaker: Prof. drh. Wiku Bakti Bawono Adisasmito (Indonesian Task Force for COVID-19 Handling)
3) Environmental Global Changes and Implication On Planetary Health: Control And Management Strategies. Speaker: Dr. Barlev Nico Marhehe (UNEP Indonesia)
Besides speakers, experts, and their presentations, participants presented research results both orally and in poster presentations.
Closing the first day of the conference, all offline participants and the committee gathered together for a gala dinner. Participants had an opportunity to enjoy Indonesian food and performances which were enlivened by live music.
During the conference, offline participants took part in campus tour activities to get to know more about the campus and facilities at Universitas Indonesia.
The closing ceremony was also a venue for announcements and awards for conference participants in the category of best poster and oral presenter as well as best oral presentation for each topic.
The conference served as a sharing platform that enabled participants to establish research networking. The speakers and delegates were mostly from member universities of AUA which itself served as a great way to collaborate with prestigious institutions and work hand in hand to make a more significant impact in the post-pandemic world.
Contributed by Universitas Indonesia
