After the Tsunami Harnessing Australian Expertise for Recovery

1
After the Tsunami Harnessing Australian
Expertise for Recovery

• Health Systems
• Focus Breakout Group Three
• Chair Dr Moira McKinnon
• Rapporteur Dr Bronwyn Morrish

2
Our Strengths

• We have
• Excellent health institutes
• Individuals with high-level skills and experience
• High level of technical knowledge
• Excellent epidemiology
• Excellent lab capacity and skills
• Good mental health system
• International research reputation
• Willingness to respond

After the Tsunami Harnessing Australian
Expertise for Recovery
3
What are the gaps?

• Ability to deal with complexity
• Coordinating the response
• Cultural knowledge
• Language capacity
• Regional understanding (including politics)
• Lack of long term relationships to build on

After the Tsunami Harnessing Australian
Expertise for Recovery
4
What are the gaps?

• Data critical health mapping in Australia and
  region
• immunisation rates, population resilience and
  vulnerabilities
• expertise in Australia
• matching resources with needs
• Health personnel (nursing/medical schools) used
  to being response not prevention/protection
• broader thinking - planning/environmental
  considerations
• need comprehensive riskbenefit analysis with
  consideration of health
• relocation environments and strategies should be
  linked to health outcomes

After the Tsunami Harnessing Australian
Expertise for Recovery
5
What are the gaps?

• Treatment of old diseases and tropical medicine
• Engaging Health centres/institutes in Australia
  thinking about our region

After the Tsunami Harnessing Australian
Expertise for Recovery
6
What are the gaps?

• Responding to emergencies
• Coordination of response (public/NGOs/gov)
• Mechanisms to quickly enable people to help
  themselves
• Assessment speed/quality, need standards
• Dealing with good intent and finding the
  appropriate skills

After the Tsunami Harnessing Australian
Expertise for Recovery
7
How we can best assist our region?

• Database of Australians with sectoral and
  regional experience (coordinated across
  institutions)
• Input into health education (in Indonesia)
• Infrastructure and Human Resources to develop
  Centres of Excellence for
• Training the trainers (mental health, nurses, lab
  staff)
• Public Health research

After the Tsunami Harnessing Australian
Expertise for Recovery
8
How we can best assist our region?

• Improvement in communication
• Type and frequency
• Hardware (telemedicine)
• Improving language and cultural skills in
  Australia (National consciousness)
• Exchange knowledge
• Twinning between institutes/government
• Individual placements

After the Tsunami Harnessing Australian
Expertise for Recovery