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TAGHI President Hung-Yi Chiou and Secretary-General Betty Ya-Wen Chiu Lead APACPH Delegation to Universiti Malaya to Advance Asia-Pacific Public Health Academic Collaboration
Universiti Malaya, ranked first among Malaysian universities, has long been actively engaged in international health cooperation and serves as an important policy think tank for the Ministry of Health Malaysia, which is also a member of APACPH. The Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, has provided long-standing support to the APACPH Secretariat and the editorial office of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health (APJPH), fostering a mutually beneficial and enduring partnership with APACPH in advancing public health education, research, and regional leadership throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
The visit was held at the Universiti Malaya Chancellery Building. Its primary purpose was to convey sincere appreciation to the university leadership and to seek continued high-level institutional support for the ongoing operations of the APACPH Secretariat and the APJPH editorial office. Such support is essential to enabling APACPH to further strengthen regional academic exchange and sustain stable and long-term collaborative development in public health.
The delegation was first received by Dr. Hasniza Zaman Huri, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) of Universiti Malaya. This was followed by a formal meeting chaired by Professor Dr. Yvonne Lim Ai Lian, Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic & International), representing the Vice-Chancellor. The meeting was attended by senior university leaders, including Professor Dato’ Dr. Yang Faridah Abdul Aziz, Dean, Faculty of Medicine. The APACPH delegation comprised Professor Dr. Maznah Dahlui, Vice President, Admin/ Secretariat; Professor Dr. Victor Hoe Chee Wai, Secretary-General; and Professor Dr. Low Wah Yun, Editor-in-Chief of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health (APJPH), together with other members of the APACPH executive team. Discussions focused on the consortium’s future governance, sustainable operations, and strategies for cross-national collaboration. Both sides also exchanged views on strengthening linkages among international health policy think tanks and expanding future directions for cooperation.
During the meeting, Universiti Malaya presented an overview of its development and achievements in public health research, education, and policy engagement. Preliminary discussions were held on leveraging the APACPH regional platform to promote diversified bilateral and multilateral collaborations, including faculty and researcher exchanges, joint research on priority public health issues, and policy dialogues. These collaborative approaches aim to enhance regional public health governance and strengthen health security resilience across the Asia-Pacific region.
In addition, Secretary-General Betty Chiu met with Professor Dr. Low Wah Yun, Faculty of Medicine professor at Universiti Malaya and Editor-in-Chief of APJPH, to further explore directions for cross-national collaboration. They discussed plans for a comparative study examining healthcare professionals’ competencies related to the impact of artificial intelligence on health security in Taiwan and Malaysia, to expand future collaborative opportunities.
For decades, Universiti Malaya has played a central role in the development and governance of APACPH. In addition to hosting the APACPH Secretariat and the APJPH editorial office, the university has repeatedly organized major APACPH international conferences and executive committee meetings, underscoring its pivotal position in the Asia-Pacific public health landscape. This visit not only supports President Chiou and Secretary-General Chiu in advancing the continued operation of APACPH—the largest and longest-established international academic public health organization in the Asia-Pacific—but also holds significant importance for TAGHI in strengthening its engagement in global public health affairs and expanding its international collaboration network.