Ateneo IPC and DOST-PCHRD Co-host Kickoff Meeting on eHealth Technologies and Data Governance in ASEAN

Last 27 February 2017, the Institute of Philippine Culture (IPC), Ateneo de Manila University organized kickoff meeting titled “Learning Interaction on eHealth Technologies in ASEAN.” The meeting is part of a two-day event co-hosted by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) through the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) and the IPC. The Learning Interaction Day 1 sessions were held at the San Alberto Hurtado Hall, Ateneo de Manila University, and Day 2 discussions were done in Lingayen City, Pangasinan.

The kickoff meeting served as a launching event for the ASEAN-wide initiative aimed at managing non-communicable diseases through eHealth technologies. The two-day event was sponsored by the ASEAN Network for Drugs, Diagnostics, and Vaccines Innovation and the ASEAN 2017 National Organizing Committee, with the assistance of the ASEAN Committee on Science and Technology. 

Dr. Jaime Montoya, Executive Director of PCHRD, discusses the need for eHealth and data governance in ASEAN.

Representatives from different local government units (LGUs), the academe, government agencies, and ASEAN attended the event. Participants actively shared how eHealth technologies assisted in improving health data management and governance in the LGUs, specifically in the LGUs of Bulacan and Pangasinan. The attendees also discussed various ideas and mechanisms to make eHealth more viable and sustainable in the ASEAN region.

HATID ASEAN attendees with the Provincial Health Office staff of Pangasinan.

The Province of Pangasinan organized the Day 2 sessions in Lingayen City, Pangasinan, last 28 February 2017. The Provincial Health Office of Pangasinan, headed by Dr. Anna de Guzman, shared their experiences on how they developed the health care systems in their province. They also talked about how they are integrating different eHealth systems to improve health data governance in Pangasinan.

The Institute of Philippine Culture is set to co-host another eHealth-related conference in October, in line with the 2017 Philippine Hosting of the ASEAN. The October event will be held in partnership with DOST - PCHRD, the Province of Pangasinan, the College of Public Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University (Thailand), and the National Institute of Health Research and Development, Ministry of Health (Indonesia).