The University of Melbourne and the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) have collaborated closely since the Government of India established the organisation in 2006 in response to growing concerns over emerging public health challenges across the country. Through the sharing of expertise and experience, the Melbourne-PHFI partnership has helped address India's global health challenges.
Consolidating long-standing partnerships with renewed agreements
The current president of PHFI, Professor Sanjay Zodpey, has visited the University of Melbourne several times for various collaborative programs. Melbourne and PHFI collaborate in many areas, ranging from student mobility (including the University’s master, doctoral, and post-doctoral programs in public health) to research collaboration and cooperation in learning programs.
A high-level University of Melbourne delegation led by Provost Professor Nicola Phillips to Delhi in October last year oversaw the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding to consolidate the long-standing collaboration and partnership between the two organisations.
The Melbourne-PHFI partnership continues to grow, and a global community of scholars is committed to supporting a wide range of essential health initiatives, including tobacco control, virtual health care, non-communicable diseases, training in public health, and disability research.
Significant milestones of impact achieved in key projects
Collaborative research has contributed to significant impact since the establishment of the Melbourne-PHFI partnership in 2006:
- Introduction of strict tobacco packaging laws in India to advance tobacco control
- Adaption in India of a disability measurement tool developed by the Nossal Institute for Global Health to enable rapid assessment of disability
- An exchange program for Master of Public Health students
- Delivery of a government-funded program to develop leadership training for the public health sector in South Asia
- Creation of VirtuCare – a project that co-designs, pilots, and evaluates inclusive virtual healthcare and rehabilitation services for people with a disability in India.
- Joint delivery of the ENCORE (Excellence in Non-Communicable Disease Research) program to advance research collaborations and exchanges between students from the University of Melbourne and four of India’s top public health and medical research institutes:
- Centre for Control of Chronic Conditions (CCCC)
- All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS)
- Christian Medical College (CMC)
- Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology (SCTIMST)
Provost Professor Nicola Phillips and President of the Public Health Foundation of India, Professor Sanjay Zodpey renewed the University of Melbourne and PHFI MoU on 28 September 2023
New competition providing rich learning experiences in program and policy development
The Indo-Pacific Global Health Case Competition was held at the University of Melbourne, attracting 120 students from universities across Australia and India (including three virtual teams from Public Health Foundation India), Fiji, Indonesia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Thailand. The teams had two weeks to develop a response to the 2023 case on child health and nutrition in Kiribati.
The regional competition, delivered for the first time in 2023, fosters global health leadership. It gives students from across the Indo-Pacific region experiential learning opportunities in program and policy development to address complex global health challenges.
Prize winning teams from the 2023 competition, which included PHFI, had the opportunity to travel to the United States in March 2024 to compete in the prestigious Emory Morningside Global Health Case Competition in Atlanta.
Continuing to grow the partnership into the future
Currently, the Melbourne-PHFI partnership facilitates Master of Public Health and PHD students to undertake an exchanges between Melbourne and PHFI. The aim is to grow the exchange program in the years to come.