College of Public Health Hosts APRU 2014 Global Health Workshop

APRU member universities at NTU for the 2014 Global Health Workshop on Sept. 24-26.

Up to 250 scholars and students from 15 countries gathered at National Taiwan University for the Association of Pacific Rim Universities 2014 Global Health Workshop between Sept. 24-26. The two-day event, which was for the first time hosted by the College of Public Health, featured four discussion sessions centralized around the promotion of global health with a focus on the Asia Pacific area.

The four sessions were (1) Global Health: education and internship; (2) Cross-border management of air pollution; (3) Prevention and control of chronic non-communicable diseases; and (4) Improving the health care system.

APRU was established in 1997 to facilitate collaboration in education, research, and innovation between its member universities. At present, the association consists of 45 member universities across 16 world economies. Each year, a member university is selected as the host of the annual Global Health Workshop, and as this year’s host as well as the only member university from Taiwan, the College of Public Health put great efforts into coordinating the event while also incorporating the participation of scholars and students from other universities in Taiwan.

Challenges in global health is on the constant rise, therefore NTU’s College of Public Health has been committed to the field with a focus on education and pragmatic communication within recent years. For example, the management of infectious diseases within the Asia-Pacific region is now a growing concern as the economic, political, and even cultural backgrounds of the various countries call for global and at the same time localized disease prevention mechanisms. In addition, the rapid development of a nation’s economy often coincides with air pollution and the prevalence of lung-related diseases; therefore, we are faced with an urgent need to conduct cross-national talks on global health. As such, the Global Health Workshop is dedicated to creating a venue for such talks to talk place so that regional health information and data can be exchanged for an expedited improvement of public health.

To enhance student participation, this year’s workshop featured a student poster designing competition. Among the six winners were three-non NTU students, including the design from a student in National University of Mongolia, one from Asia University (Taiwan), and one from University of Indonesia. Moreover, the College of Public Health Association for Graduate Students took the initiative to host a student forum during the event, making it possible for students from around the globe to further engage in dialogue. These efforts are exemplary of NTU’s efforts to promote global health education both in Taiwan and around the globe.

For more information, please visit the APRU 2014 Global Health Workshop HERE.