unu - iigh international conference · (unimas), kuching “perceived barriers toward weight...

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UNU - IIGH International Conference

Organised by:

Obesity Crisis in Southeast Asia: Issues, Challenges, and

Policy Pathways

17-18 May 2017 DK1 (Lecture Hall 1), Academic Block, Faculty of Medicine UKM

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Introduction

Established in 1973, United Nations University (UNU) is the academic and research arm of the

United Nations (UN). It is headquartered in Tokyo and has diplomatic status as a UN institution. The

mission of UNU is “to contribute, through collaborative research and education, dissemination, and

advisory services, to efforts to resolve the pressing global problems of human survival, development

and welfare that are the concern of the UN, its Peoples and Member States”. In carrying out this

mission, UNU works with leading universities and research institutes, functioning as a bridge between

the international academic community and the UN system. Like all universities, the core functions of

UNU are research, education and leadership. The difference to other universities is that UNU

functions as the thinktank for the UN system and hence research and capacity building emphasises

policy relevance and the needs of the UN system, and member states.

The idea to set up UNU-IIGH was first mooted by UNU and WHO in 2000 to address issues of global

health and public health delivery systems. A feasibility study carried out by a team of international

experts found Malaysia highly favorable as the host for UNU-IIGH, based on Malaysia's significant

development during the prior three decades.

UNU-IIGH officially started its operation on 1st of March 2007 in Kuala Lumpur. The permanent site

of the UNU-IIGH building is situated within the UKM Hospital Complex, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The UNU International Institute for Global Health - the only one focused on human health - is one of

14 research and training centres of the university. Located in Malaysia, the mission of UNU-IIGH is

to improve decision-making by the UN system about global health issues.

UNU-IIGH undertakes research, capacity development and dissemination of knowledge related to key

issues of human health. The institute seeks to contribute to the development and strengthening of

health policy frameworks and management actions, particularly for people in developing countries,

and to support implementation of a promotive approach to human health.

UNU-IIGH is a global health think tank for the United Nations – building knowledge and capacity for

decision-making about global health issues within the UN system

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“An estimated 36 million deaths, or 63% of

the 57 million deaths that occurred globally

in 2008, were due to noncommunicable

diseases, comprising mainly cardiovascular

diseases (48% of noncommunicable

diseases), cancers (21%), chronic respiratory

diseases (12%) and diabetes (3.5%). These

noncommunicable diseases share four

behavioural risk factors: tobacco use,

unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, and

harmful use of alcohol. Although morbidity

and mortality from noncommunicable

diseases mainly occur in adulthood,

exposure to risk factors begins in early life”

“Children are vulnerable to death

from treatable noncommunicable

diseases (such as rheumatic heart

disease, type 1 diabetes, asthma

and leukaemia) if health

promotion, disease prevention

and comprehensive care are not

provided”

This Conference

The objective of this international conference is to address the issues, challenges and policy pathways

for obesity in Southeast Asia, a region that is characterized and shaped by rapid economic growth

among the middle-income countries, and disparities between these countries and the less developed

countries in the region.

WHO, Global Action Plan for NCDs

WHO, Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity

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PROGRAM

DAY 1: Wednesday, 17 May:

Moderator: Dr Obijiofor Aginam

Opening Session:

10:00-10:20: Dr Obijiofor Aginam, Director Ad-Interim & Officer-in-Charge, UNU-

IIGH “Welcome Remarks: UNU as a Think-Tank for Global Issues”

KEYNOTE PRESENTATIONS

10.20-10.50: Keynote: Dr Jessica Blankenship, Regional Nutrition Consultant,

UNICEF EAPRO “Implementing the WHO's Recommendations for "Ending

Childhood Obesity": Challenges, Barriers and Enabling Factors to Success in the

South East Asia Region”

10.50-11.20: Keynote: Emeritus Prof. Dr. Mohd Ismail Noor, Taylor's University;

President, Asia-Oceania Associations for the study of Obesity (AOASO); President,

Malaysian Association for the study of Obesity (MASO) “Combating Obesity in the

Emerging Economies: Malaysian Perspectives”.

11.20-11.40: Coffee/Tea Break

11.40-12.10: Keynote: Dr Paul Soo, Programme Officer, WHO office in Kuala Lumpur

“Regional overview and recommended actions to end childhood obesity”

ABSTRACT PRESENTATIONS

Moderator: Dr Natasha Kuruppu

12.10-12.30 Matthias Helble, Senior Economist; Co-Chair, Research Department,

Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), Tokyo “Measuring the Costs of

Overweight and Obesity in Asia and the Pacific”

12.30-12.40 Comments, Questions & Answers

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12.40-1.40: Lunch & Group Photo Session

1.40-2.00 Henrique Gobbi Hedler, MSc Food Security student, University of

Edinburgh, Edinburgh “Nutrition Sensitive Interventions in the Asia Pacific

Region”


2.10-2.30 Nurul Ain Bt Mohd Emeran, DrPH student, University Sains Malaysia

(USM), Kubang Kerian “The Association Between Chronic Diseases And Work

Productivity Among Public Health Staff”


2.40-3.00 V. Pujitha Wickramasinghe, Professor in Paediatrics, University of Colombo,

Colombo "Assessment of Nutritional Status in Sri Lankan Children: Validity of

Anthropometry Cutoffs?” 3.00-3.10 Comments, Questions & Answers

3.10-3.30 Tea Break

3.30–3.50 Ruhaya Salleh, Nutritionist, Centre for Nutrition and Epidemiology

Research, Institute for Public Health, Kuala Lumpur “Systematic Review on Palm Oil

and Obesity”


4.00-4.20 Elise Mognard, Senior Lecturer, Taylor’s University, Kuala Lumpur “Food

Supply Practices and Effects on BMI: Insights from the Malaysian Food

Barometer”

4.20- 4.30 Comments, Questions & Answers

4.30-4.50 Dr Reynu Rajan, Surgeon and Lecturer, UKKM, Kuala Lumpur “Surgical

Perspective on Obesity in Malaysia and Role of Obesity and Metabolic Surgery in

Combating Obesity + Diabetes”


End of first day

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DAY 2: Thursday, 18 May:

Moderator: Dr Natasha Kuruppu

9.30-9.50 Weena Gera, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of the

Philippines, Cebu “Coal Mining and Obesity in Southeast Asia: Investing in

Sustainability” 9.50-10.00 Comments, Questions & Answers

10.00-10.20 Pravin Dev s/o Chandrasegaram, Senior Consultant, Orthopaedic Surgery,

Hospital Tuanku Ja’afar, Seremban “The role of the New Economic Policy on Small

Medium Enterprises (SME’s) and its impact on the growing obesity problem in

Malaysia”


10.30-10.50 Luong Vinh Quoc Duy, University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, Ho

Chi Minh “Prevention And Control Of Obesity In Vietnam: Challenges and

Measures in Social and Economic Perspectives”


11.00-11.20: Coffee/Tea Break

11.20-11.40 Uta Dietrich, Visiting Research Fellow, UNU-IIGH, Kuala Lumpur

“Bulging bellies in South-East Asia: using SDGs to develop an obesity prevention

portfolio”


11.50-12.10 Alia Cynthia G. Luz, Project Associate, Health Intervention and

Technology Assessment Program (HITAP), Nonthaburi “Obesity in Thailand and its

Economic Cost Estimation”


12.20-1.20: Lunch

Moderator: Dr Benjamin Anaemene

1.20-1.40 Zafar Ahmed, Health Economist & Casemix Consultant, University Malaysia

Sarawak (UNIMAS), Kuching “How Much do Overweight and Obese Adult

Patients Willing to Pay for Weight Management? Clinical and Economic Burden

of Overweight and Obesity in Primary Care Setting in Sarawak, Malaysia”


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1.50-2.10 Euphrasia anak Bari, DrPH Year 3 candidate, University Malaysia Sarawak

(UNIMAS), Kuching “Perceived Barriers toward Weight Management in Primary

Care Facilities: Cross Sectional Study of Overweight and Obese Adult Patients in

Kuching District, Sarawak” 2.10-2.20 Comments, Questions & Answers

2.20-2.40 Rohaida Bt Ismail, Public Health Physician, Kelantan State Health

Department, Kota Bharu “Dietary Intake Changes of My Body Fit and Fabulous

(MyBFF) at Work: A Study of Workplace Intervention to Combat Obesity”


2.50-3.10 Tea Break

3.10-3.30 Kuan Pei Xuan, Medical Officer, Clinical Research Centre (CRC), Kuching,

“Overweight, Obesity and Body Image Perception among Medical Students in

Malaysia”


3.40-4.00 Teh Pei Nee, Staff Nurse, Hospital Seri Manjung, Seri Manjung

“Comparison of Two Clinical Case Definitions in Detecting Overweight and

Obesity Among Registered Nurses in a District Specialist Hospital”


4.10-4.30 Darunee Poosanasuwansri, Health Instructor, Senior Professional Level, Thai

Red Cross Society, Bangkok “Health Promotion and Elderly Care: Improving

Quality of Life of Thai elderly people in communities affected by Non-

Communicable Diseases and unhealthy lifestyles”


4.40 - 5.10 Dr Obijiofor Aginam, Director Ad-Interim & Officer-in-Charge, UNU-

IIGH, Kuala Lumpur “Wrap-Up Session: Deliverable Outputs - Peer Reviewed

Special Issue of a Journal; Timeline for Submission of Final Papers; Future

Collaborative Networks”

End of conference

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SPEAKERS BIO

Dr Obijiofor Aginam

Dr. Obijiofor Aginam is currently Director Ad-Interim and

Officer-in-Charge of United Nations University-International

Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH) in Kuala Lumpur, and

concurrently an Adjunct Research Professor of Law and Legal

Studies at Carleton University, Ottawa, and Visiting Professor in

the IR3S, University of Tokyo. He has been Senior Research

Fellow and Head of Governance for Global Health in UNU-IIGH

since 2013. His expertise cuts across global health governance and

diplomacy, globalization of public health, impacts of trade

agreements on health, health and human rights, South-South

cooperation, and the normative authorities of inter-governmental

health organizations. Prior to joining the UNU-IIGH, Dr. Aginam

served as Senior Academic Officer in the UNU-Institute for

Sustainability and Peace, UNU headquarters, Tokyo. Dr. Aginam has been a tenured Professor of Law

at Carleton University, and Global Health Leadership Officer at the WHO in Geneva.

He is a recipient of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) of New York Fellowship on “Global

Health Security”, U.K. 21st Century Trust Fellowship on “Disease and Security”, WHO Fellowship

on “Global Health Leadership”, and the research grant of the Social Sciences and Humanities

Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada. He has been a Visiting Professor at the University for Peace in

Costa Rica, and universities in Italy, South Africa, Japan, and Nigeria.

Dr. Aginam is the author of Global Health Governance: International Law and Public Health in a

Divided World (2005). He has served on the expert advisory panels of WHO and FAO on aspects of

trade, food safety and globalization of public health involving field missions to Bangladesh and Lao

People’s Democratic Republic. He represents UNU in the UN Inter-Agency Taskforce on Non-

communicable Diseases, and currently serves on the editorial boards of many journals including

Global Health Governance: The Scholarly Journal for the New Health Security Paradigm. He holds a

Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia.

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KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Dr Jessica Blankenship

Jessica Blankenship is a global nutrition consultant with a focus on the

use of nutrition data to inform programmatic decision-making. She is

currently based in Bangkok where she provides technical support to

UNICEF East Asia Pacific Regional Office for large-scale survey

design, data analysis and interpretation and country level application of

existing programmatic and survey data to inform programmatic

modification.

In addition to her work with UNICEF, Jessica consults with WFP’s

regional office in Bangkok and the Iodine Global Network (IGN).

Jessica holds a PhD in International Food Policy from Tufts University Friedman School and an MSc

degree in Nutrition Science from Columbia University’s Institute of Human Nutrition.

Emeritus Prof Dr Mohd Ismail Noor

Dr Ismail is an Emeritus Professor in Nutrition at the School of

Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts, Taylor’s University.

Previously, he served UKM for 35 years (1976-2011). He was the first

Malaysian to be awarded the UNU Fellowship (World Hunger

Programme) in INCAP, Guatemala, Central America from January

1978 to May 1979. He was awarded the TWAS Fellowship (1988-89)

to work at the Institute of Nutrition, Rome, Italy. His major research

interest includes energy requirements, obesity, nutritional status of

selected population groups including elite athletes and Armed Forces

and food composition database for Malaysia. He have published more

than 100 scientific papers locally and internationally. He was a

member, WHO Consultation on Obesity, Geneva, May 1997, FAO/WHO/UNU Expert Consultation

on Energy in Human Nutrition, FAO, Rome, October 2001 and WHO Expert consultation on

appropriate BMI for Asian populations, Singapore, July 2002. Currently he hold the post President of

Asia-Oceania Association for the study of Obesity (AOASO), President, Malaysian Association for

the Study on Obesity (MASO) and Vice-President, Nutrition Society of Malaysia. He is the Chairman,

Technical Working Group on Nutritional Guidelines for Malaysia, NCCFN (1994-present) and

member of numerous committees related to Nutrition, in the Ministry of Health, Malaysia. He was the

Founder Editor of the Malaysian Journal of Nutrition (1995-1999) and had served as Editorial Board

member, International Journal of Food Science & Nutrition (UK) 1992-1999, The International

Journal of Applied and Basic Nutritional Sciences (USA) 1996-2000, Annals of Nutrition &

Metabolism, (Switzerland) 2000-2004, British Journal of Nutrition (2000- 2005), Obesity Research

Clinical Practice Journal (2006-2011) and Nutrition and Diabetes (2013- present). He is currently the

Co-Director, LIA/CNRS (France) on Food, Cultures and Health. In recognition of his contribution to

nutrition, he is a Fellow, Nutrition Society of Malaysia, FNSM (2000), Fellow, Malaysian Oil

Scientists’ and Technologists’ Association, FMOSTA (2002), Fellow, Malaysian Scientific

Association, FMSA (2003), Fellow, International Union of Nutritional Sciences, FIUNS (2005),

Fellow, Academy of Sciences Malaysia, FASc (2006) and Emeritus Professor in Nutrition, Universiti

Kebangsaan Malaysia (2014).

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Paul Soo

I am currently holding the post of Programme Management and Technical

Officer with the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative Office for

Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia and Singapore in Kuala Lumpur. My roles in

this organisation are to provide technical support in various health matters;

coordinate the planning and development of the WHO collaborative

programmes for the Governments of Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia &

Singapore and the management and implementation of these programmes.

In the past, I was a Medical and Public Health Officer with the Ministry of

Health Malaysia and had worked in various health settings and many locations

around Malaysia, ranging from the General Hospital in Klang to the

Community Health Clinic in Long Lama in rural Sarawak. During my tenure in East Malaysia, I was

fortunate to be the Medical Officer with the Flying Doctor Services in Miri Division and had the

opportunity to provide much needed clinical services to the native population in the interior of Sarawak.

ABSTRACT PRESENTERS

Matthias Helble

Matthias Helble is a Senior Economist; Co-Chair, Research

Department at the Asian Development Bank Institute in Tokyo. His

research interests include international trade, health and climate

change. His work has been published in flagship reports of

international organizations as well as in numerous books and

scientific journals, including the Review of World Economics,

Kyklos, Journal of World Trade, World Economy, Japan and the

World Economy, Health & Place, Health Policy & Planning, and the

Bulletin of the World Health Organization. Matthias began his

professional career in the trade team of the Development Research

Group of the World Bank in Washington, DC, before joining the World Health Organization in Geneva,

Switzerland, where he was responsible for research on the intersection of trade and health. He then

worked as an economist for the World Trade Organization in the areas of environment, climate change,

and technical standards. He holds degrees in economics from the University of Tübingen (BA, MSc) in

Germany, the University of Wisconsin-Madison (MA) in the United States, and the Graduate Institute

of International and Development Studies (MSc, PhD) in Geneva.

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Henrique Gobbi Hedler

Henrique G. Hedler is currently a MSc student in Food Security at the

University of Edinburgh. His research interests include, generally,

public health, nutrition and agriculture. More specifically, his current

research investigates the effectiveness of nutrition-sensitive programs

implemented by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red

Crescent Societies in the Asia-Pacific region.

Previously, Henrique worked at the American Red Cross and in food

security projects with small grassroots organizations in various

countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Henrique received his B.A. degree in

Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley. He speaks

English, Portuguese, Spanish, French and some German.

Nurul Ain Bt Mohd Emeran

Nurul Ain binti Mohd Emeran was born in Johor in 1985.She received

her M.B.B.S from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Malaysia in

2009 and the Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from Universiti

Sains Malaysia in 2015. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate in

Public Health (Epidemilogy). Her current research interests include

stroke and home care services.

V. Pujitha Wickramasinghe

Orbatine MBBS from University of Colombo (1996) with Second Class

Upper division honors. Qualified MD (Paed) in 2002 from PGIM,

University of Colombo. He was trainded in Paediatric Clinical Nutirion

and Gastroenterolgy from University of Queensland, Australia and

Paediatric Liver Transplantation from Bergamo Hospital, Italy. He

obtained PhD from Univeristy of Colombo in 2010 and studied Body

Compostion assessment in Children.

Professor Wickramasinghe joined University of Colombo in 1996

immediately after completing his internship and elevated to Senior

Lecturer in 2004 and promoted to Professor (merit) in 2009. He is an honorary Consultant Peadiatrician

to Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children, Colombo. Apart from undergraduate training he is involved

in post graduate training in MD Paediatrics, MD Community Medicine, MSc Human Nutrition and

Clinical Pathology of the PGIM. He also supervise several research degree students. Prof

Wickramasinghe has served in WHO technical committees as well as in many national committees of

the Ministry of Health and Nutrition and Ministry of Education. Currently he is the secretary of the

Board of Study in Paediatrics and a member of the Board of Management, PGIM. He is the chairperson

of the Academic Board in Paediatrics of the SLMC.

Apart from being an academic he has an extensive portfolio on research. He is a recipient of many

research grants from national and international organizations. He has 56 journal articles in peer

reviewed journals and more than 115 abstracts. He is being recognized for his scientific work including

University of Colombo award for Excellence in Research-2006, Presidential Awards for Scientific

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Publication 2008, 2013 and 2014. He has delivered 4 Orations and more than 50 Guest Lectures. Prof.

Wickramasinghe has authored 4 books and contributed to 15 book chapters to nationally and

internationally. He is Chairperson of the editorial board of the Health and Physical Science text book

published by Ministry of Education.

His research interests are related to the fields of childhood body composition obesity and metabolic

syndrome, maternal & child nutrition, effects of early nutrition on diseases in later life and

micronutrients in Infancy

Ruhaya Salleh

Ms Ruhaya Salleh is a Nutritionist at Centre for Nutrition and

Epidemiology Research, Institute for Public Health. She has served at

various State Health Department before join IPH as a researcher. Her

research expertise includes dietary assessment methods, in particular

developing food frequency questionnaire using Mobile Device for this

National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2017 (Adolescent

Nutrition Survey) and community nutrition.

Elise Mognard

Elise Mognard is a Senior Lecturer in Tourism at Taylor’s University

(Malaysia, [email protected]). After receiving her

PhD in sociology from Université de Toulouse, CERTOP-CNRS

(Toulouse - France) - which she still is an associate member – she

joined Taylor’s University (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) and is involved

in the International Associated Laboratory (LIA) “Food Studies: Food,

Cultures and Health”.

Her research focuses broadly on the socio-anthropology of food and

transformations of food and eating patterns. More specifically, she is

interested on the regulation of the relations between human and animals in food and consumption of

animal products, food controversies and ethics, and cosmopolitan food socialization.

Reynu Rajan

Dr. Reynu Rajan is a Minimally Invasive and Laparoscopic Surgeon at

UKM Medical Centre (The National University of Malaysia) with

special interest in Upper Gastrointestinal and Bariatric Surgery. Besides

being passionate about obesity and metabolic surgery, her work also

centers around endoscopy and surgical management of diseases

affecting the upper gastrointestinal tract (gastritis, peptic ulcers and

cancers).

Having trained by Prof Dato Dr. Nik Ritza Kosai (UKM Medical

Centre) and two pioneering bariatric surgeons from Taiwan and India,

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Dr. Reynu Rajan is involved in a number of initiatives targeted at increasing public awareness on the

role of surgery in management of obesity and obesity related co-morbidities and reducing social stigma

associated with the same. A proponent of minimal access surgery and ERAS Protocol (Enhanced

Recovery Post Surgery), Dr. Reynu Rajan has the largest series of Reduced Incision Laparoscopic

Sleeve Gastrectomy (LSG) in Malaysia and is the first Malaysian surgeon to perform Pure SILS Port

Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy (entire surgery performed through a single trans-umbilical incision

utilizing straight laparoscopic instruments only).

As the Deputy Secretary of the Malaysian Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Society (MyMBS) and

member of the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity & Metabolic Disorders (IFSO), Dr.

Reynu Rajan is no stranger to the Bariatric Surgery community in Malaysia and Asia. She is also the

youngest member of the National Working Committee that is responsible for putting together an

updated multidisciplinary consensus statement outlining the role of bariatric surgery in treating obesity

and obesity related metabolic syndrome in Malaysia. As a lecturer with UKM Medical Centre, Dr.

Reynu has actively participated in clinical research, scientific publication and given numerous

presentations for which she has received awards both locally and internationally.

Weena Gera

Weena Gera is currently OeAD’s Ernst Mach Grants- ASEA-UNINET

Research Fellow at InFER, the Institute of Forest, Environmental and

Natural Resource Policy at the University of Natural Resources and Life

Sciences (BOKU), Vienna. She is Assistant Professor of Political

Science at the University of the Philippines Cebu. She specializes in the

evolving structures of governance in fragile states and their development

implications, particularly within Asia and the Pacific.

Her recent research projects and publications focus on governance for

sustainable development and urban resilience. These include analysis on

the legal aspects of sustainable development; public participation in environmental governance; the

politics of representation and decentralization; coherence and integration of mining laws toward

ecosystem services promotion in ASEAN; urban governance for health; and cross-border dimensions

of metropolitan disaster risk reduction and management (comparative analysis within Southeast Asia).

At InFER, she is working on analyzing regulatory structures governing corporate social responsibility

(in particular, sustainability co-regulation) in Southeast Asia’s coal mining cities and their implications

for sustainability and resilience. Weena holds a Masters of Industrial Relations (2003) from the

University of the Philippines Diliman, MA (2006) and PhD (2009) in International Development from

Nagoya University, and completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the United Nations University

Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability, Tokyo (2012-2014).

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Pravin Dev s/o Chandrasegaram

Dr. Pravin is a Senior Consultant in Orthopaedic and Trauma

Surgery working in Hospital Tuanku Ja’afar Seremban in Negeri

Sembilan, Malaysia. For over 20 years he has been dealing with foot

related sepsis arising as a consequence of diabetes and obesity. He is

well-versed with diabetic foot and soft-tissue infections and has been

implementing health promoting strategies into his practice.

Dr Pravin trained in India and received a Fellowship from The Royal

College of Surgeons in Ireland. He completed a Masters in Public

Health in Australia with an International High Achiever’s

Scholarship from the University of New South Wales. His thesis for

the MPH employed a qualitative approach towards understanding the role of SME food operators in

contributing to obesity. He has an interest in wound management, health promotion, health systems

research and health policy.

Luong Vinh Quoc Duy

Mr Duy is working at School of Economics, University of Economics

Hochiminh City. His background is development economics with

focus on social and economic aspects of human well-being. In health

related issues, he is interested in studies related to social and economic

aspects of health.

Uta Dietrich

Ms. Uta Dietrich is a Visiting Research Fellow with UNU-IIGH

recognised for her expertise in Health Promotion and Global Health.

Over the past 25 years, her career has spanned education, policy,

practice and research from her German roots to the USA, Hong Kong,

Australia and Malaysia.

Since joining UNU-IIGH as Research Fellow in 2014, Uta has led a

programme on sustainable urban development and health and

convened the Institute’s work on urban health in the context of Habitat

III – the 3rd UN conference on housing and sustainable urban

development in Quito, Ecuador in 2016.

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Alia Cynthia G. Luz

Alia graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 2013 with a degree in

economics. During her time there, she studied and worked with local

and international development NGOs in various countries in North

America, Europe, and Asia. Post-graduation, she worked in Liberia on

renewable energy economics for a USAID-funded project.

Now part of HITAP’s international unit, Alia works as a Project

Associate with the project management and research team. Alia

manages the HIU-iDSI project in Indonesia. She provides technical

support as well as logistical and administrative coordination for the

organization’s regional projects.

Zafar Ahmed

I am a medical doctor and trained Anesthesiologist. I have decided early

in my professional life to pursue a career in public health. After MBBS

and training in Anesthesia, I completed my Master in Business

Administration (MBA), followed by Master in Economics (M Econ),

and finished his PhD in Health Management and Health Economics

from United Nations University – International Institute for Global

Health/University Kebangsaan Malaysia. I am currently working as an

Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine and Public

Health at the faculty of Medicine, University Malaysia Sarawak,

Malaysia.

I have worked extensively for Health Sector Reforms in developing countries. In Health Sector

Reforms, he specializes in Healthcare Financing, Clinical Documentation Standardization, Clinical

Coding using ICDs, patient/hospital costing, Patient Classification System and DRG implementation,

Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and Hospital Information System (HIS), and Decision Support

Systems (DSS). For that has worked with international organizations such as Asian Development Bank

(ADB), GTZ, AUSAID, and World Health Organization (WHO). Countries he has worked with include

Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Mongolia, Vietnam and Uruguay.

My research interest includes Disease burden and economic burden of disease, economic evaluation of

health interventions, and disease and economic modeling. I am actively involved in the Economic

evaluation of new therapies in Malaysia, especially for infectious diseases. I have special interest in

Health Informatics and Big Data analysis.

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Euphrasia anak Bari

Dr Euphrasia Bari received M.D from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

(UNIMAS) and served in hospitals and clinics in Sabah from 2007-

2013. After her six-years career as a medical doctor, she returned to

Sarawak, where she completed her Master of Public Health (MPH) in

2014 and is currently a final year student of Doctor of Public Health

(DrPH) in UNIMAS.

Her professional interest focuses on disease burden and overweight and

obesity among adolescents and adults. Her research papers mainly are

in the field of overweight and obesity and her current project entitled

Barriers and Willingness to Pay for Weight Management Among Overweight and Obese Adult Patients

Attending to Government Health Clinics in Kuching, Sarawak. In addition, she is a member of MERCY

Malaysia and Diabetes Malaysia.

Rohaida Bt Ismail

Dr. Rohaida Ismail is a Public Health Physician in Kelantan State Health

Department, Malaysia. Educated at University Kebangsaan Malaysia,

and graduated as Medical Doctor (M.D) in 2000 and Master in

Community Medicine (Environmental Health) in 2009. Since 2010, she

has been working as Head of Occupational and Environmental Health

Unit. She is also a Certified Occupational Health Doctor (OHD) and

recently appointed by Ministry of Health as the trainer for OHD Module.

She is involved in occupational and environmental studies including

workplace obesity intervention, sharp injuries among health care

workers, sick building syndrome, chronic diseases and work productivity among public health staff,

vulnerability analysis to flood related communicable disease, noise annoyance and health effects among

students. She is a member of Malaysian Public Health Physicians Association and Malaysian Society

for Environmental Epidemiology. She is currently pursuing Subspecialty in Environmental Health on

Climate Change and Health.

Kuan Pei Xuan

Kuan has been actively involved in research since medical school. She

has published in more than five journals locally and internationally.

Since August 2014, she worked in the Clinical Research Centre (CRC)

as a medical officer. Her current interest is travel and to learn at the

same time.

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Teh Pei Nee

Born in Taiping Perak. Married and has 2 children. Working as staff

nurse since 1994 with 4 years work experience in general medical

nursing and 19 years in neonatal nursing. Currently working in

SCN/NICU , Hospital Seri Manjung Perak as Neonatal Resuscitation

Programme Instructor , Neonatal Nursing Local Preceptor, and

Paediatric & Neonate Retrieval team member.

Darunee Poosanasuwansri

Miss Darunee Poosanasuwansri graduated with Bachelor of Nursing

from Thai Red Cross Nursing College in 1984 and Master of Science in

Health Education from Faculty of Public Health, Mahidol University,

Bangkok, Thailand in 1997. Previously, Miss Poosanasuwansri

worked as a junior nurse level 3-4 in Chulalongkorn Hospital from

1984- 1992. Since 1993, she moved to The Training Center for First

Aid and Health Promotion and started with an instructor/ lecturer

position level 4-6. At present, Miss Poosanasuwansri is in charge as a

senior instructor level 7.

Miss Poosanasuwansri has been working with Thai Red Cross for over 33 years. She has experience

with focus on Elderly Care and Health promotion for Elderly. She has developed and implemented

several projects related to “Health promotion among Elderly, and Elderly Care and Care takers for

Elderly in communities Ministry of Public Health.” Recently, Miss Poosanasuwansri served as an

editor of the guideline for “Elderly Care, Thai Red Cross 2016.”

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United Nations University

International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH)

UKM Medical Centre

Jalan Yaacob Latif, Bandar Tun Razak Cheras

56000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

www.iigh.unu.edu

Tel: +603-91715394

Fax: +603 91715402

http://www.iigh.unu.edu/

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