Collaboration Will Improve Training in Public Health Policy

By Petrina Smith
Tuesday, 17 February, 2015

The University of Melbourne has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Public Health Foundation of India to provide training in public health policy and leadership, improving disability programs and lessons from Australian in tobacco plain packaging policies.
University of Melbourne Deputy Provost and Deputy Vice Chancellor (International) Professor Sue Elliott said the agreement was a great opportunity for sharing of expertise between the institutions.

“This agreement builds on a history of effective public health collaborations between the University, through the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health including the Nossal Institute for Global Health and the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI). We can expect further great things to come of this agreement as we consolidate and renew ideas for the future,” she said.
The Public Health Foundation of India is an independent institution that aims to strengthen training, research and policy development in the area of public health.
Current collaborations covered under the MoU, include:
•   A three year Australian Aid program to help train the public health workforce in leadership. This will feed into establishing a State Institute of Health and Family Welfare in Uttarakhand and a flagship course on public health leadership
•   Measuring disability in India. This tool was developed by the University of Melbourne and is being trialled by PHFI and the Community Health and Global Network (CHGN) Uttarakhand Cluster in India. It is hoped that this tool will inform the development and evaluation of disability programs and policies in India
•   Collaborative research, academic exchange visits, collaborative teaching and seminars and collaborative association in regional and global forums
•   US National Institutes of Health Training Program involving faculty and trainees from PHFI, mainly the Centre for Chronic Disease Control (CCDC) to train researchers on global health
•   Leveraging Australia’s experience to work towards plain packaging of tobacco products in India. This builds on a substantive three-year collaboration between experts in India and Australia.