Strengthening regional clinical capacity and capabilities
With the strong support of Temasek Foundation, SDGHI engaged in a variety of projects to strengthen the clinical capacity of health systems in the region. These included a virtual training programme for healthcare professionals from Singapore and Indonesia for the implementation of technology-enabled initiatives for nurses responding to emergencies, COVID-19 protocols and preparation for possible future pandemics; a programme that examines the design and management of purpose-built facilities to control the COVID-19 pandemic, with participants from Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh; and a programme about infrastructure planning, design and flow aimed at improving patient care at hospitals in the state of Maharashtra, India.
Partnering and engaging the global health community
SDGHI strengthened its collaboration with the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health through an inaugural joint strategic meeting in February 2022, where both parties highlighted their areas of expertise, explored complementary strengths and future plans to foster the growth of the Singapore global health landscape. The institute also invited key stakeholders across the SingHealth Duke-NUS AMC to discuss the incorporation of global health as a foundational pillar in the AMC.
In the wider community, SDGHI has maintained a variety of ongoing educational activities and events to further knowledge exchange and engagement in global health. In addition to launching its Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts in early 2022, the institute hosted 17 webinars in the past year with topics such as applying a One Health approach to pandemic management, examining the link between gender and cardiovascular health, to exploring Asia’s role in safeguarding planetary health – with a combined total of over 2,500 participants.
The listenership of SDGHI’s podcast channel “Global Health Voices” also increased, amassing over 1,600 downloads. The channel was in Feedspot’s top 10 list of the “Best 25 Global Health Podcasts”. Lastly, the essay series titled “SDGHI Perspectives” showcased a variety of viewpoints surrounding global health issues of our time, with an inaugural collection on the topic “COVID-19 A Year Later: Vaccines in Southeast Asia”.