SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute

With Asia being home to 60% of the world’s population, and in 2020, accounted for 49.3% of cancer incidence worldwide, it is clear the significant burden poses to this part of the world. Yet, much of medical remains focused on Western populations.

It is thus with great pride that the SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute supports the work of the National Cancer Centre Singapore as it hosts the second Asian National Cancer Centers Alliance (ANCCA) Annual Scientific Conference, which brings together 22 member nations to improve the understanding of Asian-prevalent cancers and increase the effectiveness of Asian-targeted treatment protocols and therapeutics.

Speaking at the event last Friday, aptly themed “Uniting Asia Against Cancer”, A/Prof Tan Hiang Khoon, Director of SDGHI, highlighted that national cancer centres in Asia play a crucial role in advancing cancer research, promoting early detection, and reducing the burden of cancer. In addition to playing an important role in training the healthcare workforce, a platform like ANCCA helps bring together partners across nations and industries that can lend perspectives to framing management protocols contextualised to clinical practices in low resourced settings.

All these contribute to our goal of improving health outcomes and quality of life in the region.

And that's a wrap of SDGHI at the Duke Kunshan University Global Health Program's 10th anniversary symposium! From discussing social-economic, environmental, and challenges in achieving universal post-pandemic, to monitoring and evaluation to track universal health coverage progress, the symposium spanned various themes, all aimed at addressing the goal of achieving health-related Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

We are honoured to have been a part of the programme and are looking forward to future collaborations in and across the Duke ecosystem.

A huge thank you to Zhenchuan Community Health Service Center and the First People's Hospital of Kunshan for hosting the SDGHI delegation for a visit of Kunshan's health facilities. Together with our colleagues from Duke Kunshan University, it was an exciting time learning from and discussing possible future collaborations with each other.

“The future health system must do more with less. And for that to happen, we need to challenge sacrosanct processes, look at lowering barriers to adoption to technology and innovation, and commit to a deliberate and systematic investment towards an agile, adaptable, and motivated workforce.”

A/Prof Tan Hiang Khoon, Director of SDGHI, shares at the Closing Plenary of the 10th Anniversary celebration of the Duke Kunshan University Global Health Program about the megatrends and challenges in , and the bold vision of doing more with less as we build the of the future.

SDGHI Visiting Professor David Hipgrave spoke at Duke Kunshan University on measuring early childhood development in the region. In alignment with the symposium's theme of Developing Sustainable Universal Health Coverage in the Era of Achieving Health-related SDGs by 2030, he talked about the current status of achieving the UN SDGs that pertain to early childhood development.

Insights from regional analyses scoping activities indicate that there is limited evidence on early childhood development models with proven effectiveness for enhancing existing systems in a sustainable way. With these and other challenges in mind, Prof Hipgrave pushed for continuous efforts towards reaching the SDGs, emphasising a whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach on early childhood development.

"Our role as public health practitioners is not just good science but also good communications."

Deputy director of SDGHI and director of the Duke-NUS Centre for Outbreak Preparedness Prof Paul Pronyk spoke about continuing dedicated efforts to control infectious diseases and improve coverage.

He highlighted the importance of science communications, pointed out how the advancements in technology have impacted the field of and the reflected on the shifts to national and regional vaccine sufficiency.

Duke Kunshan University

Executive Director of the Centre of Regulatory Excellence and SDGHI Policy Core lead Prof John Lim spoke about good regulation as an enabler towards the UN Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG3) on good and wellbeing.

Using Singapore as an example, he illustrated the pre-Covid-19 regulatory approach and the regulatory lessons learned from the pandemic. Prof Lim emphasised the changing regulatory environment post-Covid-19 to strengthen regulatory agility and regulatory , recognise the convergence of regulations, promote regulatory leadership and policy innovation and lastly, to continue to communicate and collaborate with and regional counterparts.

A/ Prof Taufique Joarder of Global Health Evaluation at SDGHI was at Developing Sustainable Universal Health Coverage in the Era of Achieving Health-Related SDGs by 2030, where he spoke about strengthening non-communicable diseases services in primary systems in South Asia.

Bringing delegates through the challenges and steps taken by various South Asian countries, Prof Joarder encouraged introducing integrated health services, empowering the community, and encouraging multi-sectoral policy and action as further call to actions.

The SDGHI delegation at the 10th anniversary celebration of the Duke Kunshan University Global Health Program. We've had a great first day where some of our faculty were part of talks and panels on various topics ranging from strengthening NCD prevention in primary systems to control of .

It was wonderful meeting with experts in the field from around the world and we're looking forward to learning more about developing sustainable universal health coverage in the era of achieving health-related SDGs by 2023.

The Duke Global Health Institute and Duke-NUS Medical School Joint Pilot Grant seeks to support collaborative research projects that address key global concerns.

Applications are currently open. Find out more here:https://www.duke-nus.edu.sg/docs/librariesprovider22/default-document-library/dghi-duke-nus-grant-call-fact-sheet.pdf

"A big part about being a global health practitioner is listening to the community and being a broker between communities and the people who are offering the resources. Our role is catalytic and enabling; solutions are local - they’re not going to come from outside."

SDGHI Deputy Director Prof Paul Pronyk was at a global health student engagement session together with Prof David HIPGRAVE to share their experiences on Global Health and how students can get involved. They reflected on their career trajectories which have taken them all across the world, spoke about how research is a profound tool for advocacy, and illustrated the necessity of ensuring that global health work elevates and does not disrupt local communities, expressing their hope that more students get involved and exposed to global health early on.

A huge thank you to students across all levels for your enthusiasm, and to the MS1 students for organising the session!

“Proper design, implementation, and monitoring are crucial to the success of a project. Being an SDGHI Fellow and undertaking the Master of Public Health provided me with tools and skills that are useful for any form of planning, in whatever project is done. Whatever I learnt will help me in my continuous mission to improve health outcomes not only overseas, but in Singapore as well.”

Clinical Assistant Professor Arif Tyebally shares with us the lessons he's learnt from his years of being involved in Global Health, as well as how the SDGHI Global Health Fellows Programme provided him with the scholarly frameworks and resources to further his passion in regional work.

Read more about his journey: https://www.duke-nus.edu.sg/sdghi/resources/knowledge-centre/sdghi-global-health-fellows-programme

The SDGHI GH Fellows Programme is currently open for applications. Download our fact sheet to find out more: https://www.duke-nus.edu.sg/docs/librariesprovider22/default-document-library/global-health-fellows-programme-fact-sheet.pdf?sfvrsn=ee093957_8

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