Minutes of Meeting

Thursday, 16th October 2014

Time: 9.00 am – 12.30 pm

Venue: Faculty Room, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya

The meeting was called to order at 9:00 a.m. by President, Dr. Phitaya Charupoonphol

Attendance:

Board Members

• Dr. Phitaya Charupoonphol – President
• Dr. ByungYool Jun – President-Elect (representative)
• Dr. Indika Karunathilake – Vice President 1
• Dr. Jay Maddock – Vice President 2 (interim)
• Dr. Maznah Dahlui – Acting Secretary-General, Secretary and Regional Director, Kuala Lumpur
• Dr. Hung-Yi Chiou -Treasurer
• Dr. Tomiko Hokama – President Emeritus (representative to the immediate past president)
• Dr. Low Wah Yun – Editor-in-Chief, Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health
• Dr. Masamine Jimba – Regional Director, Tokyo and Co-Chair Membership Committee
• Dr. Prayoon Fongsatitkul – Regional Director, Bangkok
• Dr. Elahe Nezami – Regional Director, USA
• Dr. Young Moon Chae – Director ICUH (representative)
• Dr. Chiranthi Liyanage – Early Career Network

Staff:

• Ms. Camelina Chan (Executive Officer, APACPH Secretariat)

Representatives and invited faculty from Member Universities:

• Dr. Sathirakorn Pongpanich (Chulalongkorn University)
• Dr. Bruce Maycock (Curtin University of Technology)
• Dr. Colin Bell ( Deakin University)
• Dr. Chen Yingyao (Fudan University)
• Dr. Tahir Aris (Institute of Public Health, Malaysia)
• Dr. John T. Arokiasamy (International Medical University, Malaysia)
• Dr. Yasuo Kagawa (Kagawa Nutrition University)
• Dr. Maksut K. Kulzhanov (Kazakhstan School of Public Health)
• Dr. Shin-Han Tsai (Taipei Medical University)
• Dr. Philip Baker (Queensland University of Technology)
• Dr. Osman Ali (Royal College of Medicine Perak – Universiti Kuala Lumpur)
• Mr. Iwan Stiabudi (Sriwijaya University)
• Dr. Nittaya Pensirinapa (Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University)
• Dr. Ya Wen Chiu (Taipei Medical University)
• Dr. Eiji Yano (Teikyo University)
• Dr. Hyunwook Kim (The Catholic University of Korea)
• Dr. Feng Chen (Nanjing Medical University)
• Dr. Yeoh Eng Kiong (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
• Dr. Janice Johnson (The University of Hong Kong)
• Dr. Asnawi Abdullah (University of Muhammadiyah Aceh)
• Dr. MuharrirAsya’ary (University of Muhammadiyah Aceh)
• Dr. Fauzi Ali Amin (University of Muhammadiyah Aceh)
• Dr. Khadijah Shamsuddin (University Kebangsaan Malaysia)
• Dr. Tri Martiana (University of Airlangga)
• Dr. Shreenika De Silva (University of Colombo)
• Dr. Surenthirakumaran Rajendira (University of Jaffna)
• Dr. Richard Taylor (University of New South Wales)
• Dr. Prasad Amaratunga (University of Peradeniya)
• Dr. Carl Abelardo T. Antonio (University of Philippines)
• Dr. Takuya Fukushima (University of Ryukyus)
• Dr. Maximilian P. de Courten (Victoria University)
• Dr. Chuanhua Yu (Wuhan University)
• Dr So Yoon Kim (Yonsei University)
• Dr. Santha Muller (Fiji National University)
• Dr. Shih-Wei Tsai (National Taiwan University)

Observers:

• Ms. Asmaripa Ainy (Sriwijaya University)
• Dr. Soedjajadi Keman (University of Airlangga)
• Dr. Kenzo Takahashi (Teikyo University Graduate School of Public Health)
• Dr. Sohee Park (Yonsei University)
• Dr. Yeji Lee (Yonsei University)
• Dr. JooEun Ha (Yonsei University)
• Dr. Orawan Kaewboonchoo (Mahidol University)
• Dr. Jarueyporn Suparp (Mahidol University)
• Dr. Kwanjai Amnatsatsue (Mahidol University)
• Dr. Tin Tin Su (University of Malaya)
• Dr. Hazreen Abd Majid (University of Malaya)
• Dr. Wong Yut Lin (University of Malaya)
• Suda Hamklong (Mahidol University)
• Dr. Changrok (Yonsei University)
• Dr. Xiaohui Liang (Wuhan University)
• Dr. Sanjay Rampal (University of Malaya)
• Ms. Chrishanne Sebastiampillai

Minutes Taker:

• Dr. Zobaida Edib – University Malaya
• Mr. Nazar Zabadi – University Malaya

Support Staffs:

• Ms. Faraa Hidayah – University Malaya
• Ms. Ameera Abdulah – University Malaya
• Ms. Sakinah Kamal – University Malaya

Apologies:

• Dr. Amin Jalaludin – President Emeritus (Immediate Past President)
• Dr. Liming Li – Regional Director, Beijing
• Dr. Paula Palmer – Regional Director, USA
• Dr. Tan Malaka – Bina Husada College of Health Sciences
• Dr. Tserenkhugyin Lkhagvasuren – Health Sciences University of Mongolia
• Dr. Jun-Ming Chen – Kaohsiung Medical University
• Dr. Somsak Pitaksanurat – Khon Kaen University
• Dr. D Kamarudin D Mudin – University Malaysia Sabah
• Dr. Adeeba bt Kamarulzaman – University of Malaya
• Dr. Khairul Anuar – MAHSA University Dr. Xiaofang Pei – Sichuan University
• Dr. Agustin Kusumayati – Universitas Indonesia
• Dr. Catherine Bennett (Deakin University)
• Dr. Raina Macintyre (University of New South Wales)

Dr. Maznah Dahlui conveyed a warm welcomed to the President and other members for attending the General Assembly at University of Malaya on behalf of Dr. Amin Jalaludin, the Vice Chancellor and the immediate past president of APACPH.

Welcome Speech by President of APACPH:

Introductions
Introductions were given by all present. (Refer to attendance)

Confirmation of the minutes of the 2013 General Assembly held in Wuhan, China

Dr. So Yoon Kim proposed the minutes as accurate and Dr. Indika seconded the proposal. The minutes were approved by the General Assembly (GA), pending correction to the treasurers report on the exact amount of balance carried forward, as queried by Dr Osman Ali from RCMP.

Induction Ceremony – moderated by Dr. Masamine Jimba

One new institutional member was presented by Chair Membership committee as having met the criteria of membership. They were recommended for admission and approved unanimously by the GA. The new member introduced their institution to the President and other APACPH members. Membership Plaque and Medal of Membership were ceremoniously handed over. The new members acknowledged their new partnership and commitment with APACPH in improving the health status of their communities and the Region. The new member who was inducted;

University of Muhammadiyah, Aceh, Indonesia

The formality of the ceremony was to acknowledge the importance of the long term commitment, dynamic values and principles of ethics, integrity and tolerance.

1) President’s Report – Dr. Phitaya Charupoonphol

Dr. Phitaya Charupoonphol expressed his appreciation for the efforts of the faculty and staffs of the University of Malaya in planning and organizing this meeting. He would like to distinguish the four main considerations for APACPH: Accreditation, Conference, Research and Exchange Programs. The significance of accreditation cannot be underestimated. It attests to the quality of an educational program that prepares for entry into a recognized profession. The APACPH Accreditation Body comprises three representatives from Public Health professional agencies, three academicians, two specialists as well as three outside specialists. The President recommended that a preliminary observation project be conducted to begin with a visit to one of the institution under review by the APACPH accreditation panel to assess how to better refine the process. In December 2014, Accreditation Exercise will be commenced with Yongsei University first, followed by Universitas Indonesia in March, then Mahidol University and University of Malaya.

Refer to Appendix 1.

2) Secretary’s report – Dr. Maznah Dahlui

Dr. Maznah Dahlui reported that the notice of meetings has been emailed out accordingly and 46 deans from active members attended this General Assembly. The membership fee billings have been sent out more aggressively this year with 2 gentle reminders. She also updated information of new deans from several member institutions and requested that other member institutions to provide latest contact of respective deans to the Secretariat.

Dr. Maznah requested that if there is any potential new member who is interested to join APACPH, they can email directly to the Secretariat.

With regards to the competitor using a similar name (APCPH2014), a letter has already been drafted by the Secretary and pending for the approval from the President. Dr. Carl Aberlardo of Phillipines confirmed that the conference organized by a group of Public Health Specialist, not under any organization, is a yearly conference.

Universitas Indonesia has responded to host the 47th APACPH Conference 2015.University of Teikyo and Mahidol University showed interest to host the 48th APACPH Conference. The President mentioned that the priority is given to University of Teikyo to organize the 47th APACPH conference.

Schedule for APACPH meeting in 2015
MBM

1. Dec/January (back to back with Accreditation Exercise, Accreditation Meeting – Yonsei University, Korea)
2. July ( Mahidol University, Thailand)

ECM

1. March (back to back with Accreditation Exercise – UniversitasIndonesia,Indonesia)
2. October (back to back with 47th APACPH Conference, Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia)

Announcement on new appointments made at ECM

• Dr. Jay Maddock – Vice President 2 (as interim till the next election, 2015)
• Dr. Elahe Nezami – Regional Director, USA
• Dr. Prayoon Fongsatikul – Regional Director, Bangkok Office
• Dr. Philip Baker – Representative from Australia as the Regional Director, Australasia

The recommendation was passed unanimously.

Election 2015

The election for all positions will be conducted during the next General Assembly in Indonesia.
Position for Election

1. President-Elect
2. Vice President 1
3. Vice President 2
4. Secretary-General

Election 2016

Position for Election

1. Secretary
2. Treasurer

46th APACPH Conference updates

Dr. Maznah Dahlui informed that this year, the response to the conference was overwhelming which was beyond the capacity of the venue. They had received more than 1000 registration, but had to limit it to 600 participants. There were 60% international participants and 40% local participants. She presented the programmed to the members.

Refer to Appendix 2.

3)Treasurer’s Report – Dr. Hung-Yi Chiou

Dr. Hung-Yi Chiou presented the treasure report. He assured that the budget is quite healthy and safe. He suggested that the Secretariat should send out another friendly reminder to the members that have not submitted their membership payment for this year.

Issue Arise:

The current balance in Honolulu account (refer to item no. I) does not tally with the current balance in Taipei (refer to item no. II (3))

Recommendation from the floor:

Dr. Osman Ali requested the Treasurer to check the matter and come up with a short explanation of the difference.
The President suggested that the amended account will be presented in the next General Assembly.

The recommendation was passed unanimously.
Refer to Appendix 3.

4) APJPH progress report – Dr. Low Wah Yun

Dr. Low Wah Yun presented the APJPH report. The journal has been showing progress over the years. Impact factor has been increased from 0.763 to 1.111 over 5 years. Subscription was increased.Number of pages per issue has been increased from 60 pages to 110 pages (average of 10 articles per issue) in 2014. The rejection calculated is 72.8%. From August 2014, a fee amounting USD25 will be charged for the submission of an article. The future plan will be APJPH Open Access.

Issue Arises:

1. The journal subscriptions were only 9% from Asia. This is a concern that needs to be addressed.
2. The rejection rate was high due to backlog issue.
3. The duration from submission to publication is long.
4. The issue of still having the printed version will incur more cost.

Recommendation from the floors:

• Dr. Phitaya Charupoonphol suggested to conduct a workshop on grant writing so that we can have more high quality of article and can be published in APJPH journal.
• Dr. Takuya Fukushima suggested to invite good reviewers to increase the impact factor.  Dr. Low Wah Yun thanked institution KCDC (Korea Centre for Disease Control and Prevention) and HIRA (Health Insurance and Review Assessment Series) for sponsoring supplementary issues. To clear the backlog issues, Chinese Medical Board (CMB) will be sponsoring USD 30,000.
• Dr Janice Johnson suggested to minimize the duration of publication from submission to sustain the reputation of the journal.
• Dr Low Wah Yun explained that some other member institutions have limitation on the internet access and hence, the journals still need to be printed in hard copy version. She also explained that the total duration for a journal to be accepted is 2-3 months. (2 months for review, 3 weeks for revision)

Commemorative Issue 2015 – Tribute to Professor Walter Patrick
A proposal for a commemorative issue in APJPH as a tribute to the late Professor Walter Patrick is coordinated by Dr. Colin Binn. All colleagues have been invited to contribute short reviews on topics that are relevant to the life’s work of Dr. Walter Patrick.
Refer to Appendix 12.
Session on group photograph and tea-break.

5) Accreditation Report – Dr. Indika Karunatilake

Accreditation Report was presented by Dr. Indika Karunatilake. Universitas Indonesia will initiate the accreditation exercise.Universitas Indonesia will send a formal application letter to the APACPH Secretariat for the accreditation process. Mechanism of payment needs to be addressed. Dr. Indika Karunatilake explained that based on a given Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), followed by a site-visit, then the accreditation process will be commenced. Dr. Maznah suggested that a proper template with full details should be created. This template will then be sent to the Accreditation Secretariat, which is now established at Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. University of Yongsei also had shown interest to conduct the exercises for Korean PH program Accreditation together with APACPH accreditation.

The President also acknowledged the importance of accreditation and a budget amounting USD10,000 has been allocated for the accreditation exercise.

Many encouraging feedbacks were received with the intention of APACPH for the accreditation exercise, that this is not an easy effort but the benefits are clear.

Issue

Dr. Philip Baker requested explanations on the selection criteria of the assessors (should be made transparent as not to be bias), and that the accreditation guidelines to be posted on the website. The Secretariat will follow-up with the Accreditation secretariat on this matter.

Refer to Appendix 4.

6) Update on Regional Office Reports

• Bangkok Regional Office Report
• Honolulu Regional Office Report
• Tokyo Regional Office Report

7) Revision of Articles – Dr. So Yoon Kim

Refer to Appendix 6.
Issues:
Restructuring the Membership category and membership benefit was uncleared.
Recommendation from the floor:

• Dr. NittayaPensirinapa suggested to provide scholarship for APACPH members and discount on registration fee during APACPH conferences for APACPH member institutions.
• Dr. Maznah clarified that every year APACPH provides 5 Young investigator Traveller Awards (YITA) to low-income countries to attend APACPH Conference. This awards sponsor air-flight and accommodation to the awardee.
• Dr. Prayoon Fongsatitful suggested to conduct a pre-conference workshop on specific issues.

The recommendation was passed unanimously.

8) Obesity Prevention Report – Dr. Colin Bell

Linking research, policy and practice were suggested to ensure best practice obesity prevention. Technical advice and evidence based practice was encouraged. Planning is underway for an obesity prevention policy and practice workshop at the 47th APACPH conference in 2015.

Dr. Maznah appreciated the idea of the workshop and suggested that it can be conducted as one of the pre-conference workshop in Jakarta, 2015. This will be a multi-county studies between Australia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka and the finding will be discussed in the next meeting which will be held in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Fiji National University showed interest to join this collaboration.

Refer to Appendix 7.

9) ICUH Report – Dr. Young Moon Chae

Dr. Young-Moon Chae briefly introduced about ICUH. The details will be presented during the ICUH seminar. He also proposed that other institution to recognize ICUH credits at Mongolia University of Health Science has recognized ICUH credits. He is planning to provide new online courses and workshops.

Issues

Dr Maznah thanked Yongsei University on their efforts and support in terms of human resource, financial and IT. She regrets that University Malaya is not able to incorporate the ICUH modules in the curriculum since there is a Malaysian Qualifying Framework that need to be followed. More discussions are needed at university level in this matter. She suggested module that are not common to universities such as Disaster Management be offered so that there will be more takers as their elective course.

Refer to Appendix 8

10) Report on Island and Rural Health

Refer to Appendix 9.

11) Report on Early Career Network

Dr. Chianti Liyannage shared that ECN launched a booklet commemorating the last Dr. Walter Patrick life story and his invaluable contribution to the field of public health

Refer to Appendix 10.

12) Global Indigenous Collaboration Initiatives

Appendix 11

Dr. Osman Ali shared the collaborative initiatives on indigenous health in Malaysia and invite other APACPH member institutions who are interested to join in the study.

Refer to Global Indigenous report (Appendix 11).

13) Oral Cancer Prevention

Dr. Prasad Amaratunga shared that study is a multi-country project among Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Taiwan.

Refer to Oral Cancel report.

14) Public Health Law and Ethics

Dr. So Yoon Kim reported the first meeting has been conducted with Fiji.

No report was submitted.

15) 47th APACPH Conference – Next Host :Universitas Indonesia

Dr. Agustin Kusumayati gave a short presentation for the next APACPH conference at Executive Council Meeting The 47th APACPH conference will be held in Bandung, Indonesia from Wednesday, 21st October 2015 to Friday, 23rd October 2015.She estimated that 1000 participants from Indonesia and 500 participants from Asia Pacific would join the conference.

The proposal was accepted by the executive council members.

The Secretariat will prepare a formal agreement which needs to be signed by the next conference host.

Refer to Appendix 14.

16) 48th APACPH Conference

University of Teikyo and Mahidol University showed interest to host the 48th APACPH Conference.

17) Other matters

Official APACPH email: contact@apacph.org

All matter pertaining to APACPH must be sent to and from the APACPH KL Secretariat to avoid miscommunication in the future.

The General Assembly minutes will be distributed to the APACPH member via online within 3 months from the present meeting date.

Meeting adjourned at 12:40 p.m.