The University of Queensland (UQ) recently celebrated the completion of the Australian Awards Indonesia (AAI): Short Course in Digital Health. Through a competitive selection process, 24 key representatives from Indonesia’s Ministry of Health, Digital Transformation Office and a range of health service providers across the country, were selected for the three week course. UQ course leader Dr Helen Haydon, said that the program was an incredible accomplishment involving experts from the UQ’s Centre for Online Health (COH) and Queensland Digital Health Centre (QDHeC). The course showcased telehealth, health informatics and digital health care through formal presentations, workshops, site visits and peer to peer mentoring activities.
The Indonesian delegates travelled over to Brisbane for the main part of the program, also meeting with their allocated mentors, and catching a glimpse of key landmarks in Brisbane and Sydney. UQ’s Dr Haydon and Professor Anthony Smith spent time in Indonesia delivering the pre and post course sessions, facilitating the individual project presentations, and presenting to the DFAT team at the Australian Embassy. All of the AAI projects generated through this course reinforce a strong sense of local need and determination to promote digital health use throughout Indonesia. “One of the most rewarding aspects was seeing every participant progress through the course with so much enthusiasm and passion”, said Dr Haydon. “The diverse range of projects clearly reflects the needs of the country – including the development of national regulation processes for digital health, and targeted projects on health challenges such as mental health, communicable diseases, child development, maternal health, environmental and animal health”. “We look forward to seeing these projects evolve over time, and know that the partnerships formed with the delegates will continue into the future” said Dr Haydon. The AAI short course in digital health was funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), and proudly administered through UQ International Development.
