2018: THE DECLARATION OF ASTANA: A SHIFT TOWARDS PRIMARY HEALTH? On 25–26 October 2018, ministers, health workers, academics, partners and civil society came together to recommit to primary health care as the cornerstone of UHC (first announced in 2012) in the bold new Declaration of Astana. The Declaration was a focus to renew political commitment to primary health care from
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governments, non-governmental organizations, professional organizations, academia and global health and development organisations. The WHO in partnership with UNICEF and the Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan hosted this Global Conference on Primary Health Care 40 years after the adoption of the historic Declaration of Alma-Ata. Building on the theme of global health and previous programs of health systems and global health systems run by Helen Jordan and Peter Annear, the new Comparative Health Systems program was launched in 2018. A week-long intensive looking at global health systems, how they are financed, how responsive they are and how we need to take on a more systems focused approach to health not just focusing on diseases or pillars.
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In 2018, a team led by Dr Alison Morgan together with Ms Prarthna Dayal, Dr Matthew Reeve, Professor Peter Annear, Dr Krishna Hort, Professor Barbara McPake, Professor Ajay Mahal and Ms Katherine Gilbert at the Nossal Institute were awarded the Norman Curry Award which recognises programs and initiatives in innovation and excellence in support of, and service to, teaching and learning including distinctiveness, coherence and clarity of purpose; a positive influence on student learning and student engagement; breadth of impact; and concern for equity and diversity. Recognising the role of technology in enabling this shift, since joining the MPH teaching team in 2009, Dr Enes Makalic has endeavoured to deepen the connection between teaching and research.
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In 2018, Dr Enes Makalic was awarded the inaugural MDHS Dean’s Fellowship for Learning and Teaching. The Fellowships develop and celebrate excellence in learning and teaching practice and innovation and provide enhanced professional development opportunities for teaching staff through funding short national or international visits that foster significant and lasting connections with internationally recognised leaders in learning and teaching. The plans at the time included a study visit to South Korea to look at the feasibility of a new elective subject focused on applied machine learning in public health. Congratulations are also due to Enes for winning the David White Award for Teaching Excellence as part of the 2020 Melbourne Excellence Awards Program. Building on the student exchanges that started in Lund in Sweden in 2013, the Public Health Foundation India (PHFI) was set up 2018. The MPH Mentoring program, led by Sue Durham, was piloted in 2018 and has a variety of final year MPH students matched with a range of Alumni Mentors both within Australia and internationally.
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MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
