The Australia-Indonesia Centre Board has approved $2.1 million in funding for the AIC Health Research Cluster to deliver innovative approaches to address the primary prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in Indonesia and Australia.
The AIC Health Research Cluster, led by the University of Melbourne, The University of Sydney, Universitas Indonesia and Universitas Airlangga, aims to increase understanding of the importance of reducing NCD risk factors in the early years in both Australia and Indonesia and to influence policy and practice in effective primary prevention of NCDs in Indonesia and Australia. The burden of NCDs is not only a pressing health challenge for both Australia and Indonesia, across the world NCDs have overtaken acute infectious diseases to become the leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally.
Specifically the cluster team will focus on the existing monitoring systems of NCDs and NCD risk factors, analyse the profile of NCD risk factors and the level of health literacy in both countries, and attempt to identify ways that medical education and capacity building can be used to overcome these challenges.
Capacity building of the future health workforce will be an important component of the research and therefore the cluster team will actively engage medical and research students from both countries.
Funding and related support for the Cluster comes from the Australian Government through its Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Department of Education, and AIC partner institutions, Monash University, The University of Melbourne, The University of Sydney, The Australian National University and CSIRO.
