Tainan, Taiwan, 22 October 2026 – The Collaborating Centres for Health Promotion (CCHP) of the Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health (APACPH) successfully held a parallel symposium entitled “Advancing Health Promotion: Digital Innovation for Physical Activity and Nutritional Management” on 22 October 2026 at the International Convention Centre (ICC) Tainan, Taiwan, as part of the 57th APACPH Annual Conference. The symposium brought together approximately 100 participants and three invited experts from Japan, Singapore and Taiwan to share research findings and innovative approaches to cardiovascular disease prevention, physical activity monitoring and artificial intelligence (AI)-supported nutrition care.
The symposium opened with remarks from Dr. Ching-Fen Shen, Director General of the Health Promotion Administration (HPA), and Dr. Hung-Yi Chiou, President of APACPH and Director of CCHP and the Institute of Population Health Sciences (IPHS), National Health Research Institutes (NHRI). The session was chaired by Dr. Betty Ya-Wen Chiu, CCHP Chief Executive Officer and APACPH Vice President Finance, with Dr. Wei-Cheng Lo, CCHP Deputy Chief Executive Officer, serving as co-chair.
Exploring Digital Innovation in Health Promotion
The symposium featured three presentations highlighting emerging opportunities to strengthen health promotion through digital innovation.
Japan: Integrating Digital Innovation into Cardiovascular Disease Prevention
Dr. Hiroyasu Iso, Director of the Institute for Global Health Policy Research at the Japan Institute for Health Security (JIHS) and President of the Japanese Society of Public Health (JSPH), highlighted the effectiveness of community-based interventions in improving hypertension management and preventing stroke. He also discussed the potential of digital innovation, particularly personal health records and integrated national health databases, to improve health information sharing, risk identification and continuity of preventive care.
Singapore: Understanding Physical Activity Through Digital Phenotyping
Dr. Padmapriya Natarajan, Senior Research Fellow at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, highlighted how conventional measures, such as total daily physical activity and screen time, may overlook important differences in when and how behaviours occur. Findings from digital monitoring studies demonstrated that physical activity undertaken shortly after meals was more strongly associated with lower post-meal glucose responses than overall daily activity levels. Understanding the timing, context and patterns of daily activities may help public health professionals develop more personalised and effective strategies to promote physical activity and improve health outcomes.
Taiwan: Strengthening Governance and Workforce Readiness for AI-Supported Nutrition Care
Dr. Jung-Su Chang, Professor at the School of Nutrition and Health Sciences, Taipei Medical University, Taiwan, explored the opportunities and challenges of applying artificial intelligence to dietary assessment, nutrition counselling and clinical decision support. She emphasised that technological accuracy alone is insufficient to ensure safe and effective implementation. Three priorities were highlighted: validating technologies in real-world clinical settings, establishing appropriate governance and accountability mechanisms, and strengthening workforce training and education.
Advancing Evidence-Based Digital Health Promotion in the Asia-Pacific
Collectively, the presentations highlighted how evidence-based digital technologies can strengthen disease prevention, support healthier behaviours and improve nutrition care across the Asia-Pacific region.
Beyond the symposium, CCHP also engaged in exchanges with Dr. Ching-Fen Shen, Director General of the HPA, Dr. Shu-Ying Lo, Director of the HPA’s Planning Division, and invited speakers, including Dr. Hiroyasu Iso of JIHS. These interactions provided valuable opportunities to strengthen professional relationships, exchange perspectives on regional public health challenges and lay the groundwork for future collaboration.
Through these efforts, CCHP continues to strengthen its regional public health network and promote evidence-based health promotion across the Asia-Pacific region.
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