Past projects in health sector

1. Colloquium on CANADA-VIETNAM co-operation in higher education & researchDecember 18-19, 2009Ho-Chi-Minh city, Vietnam Past cooperation & New avenues for continued collaboration in Health Sciences between Vietnamese & Canadian Universities By Lan Tran Gien, Professor, Memorial University.

2. Past projects in health sector • Focus in • Education/training of health care workers (Nurses, Medical Drs, Social workers…) • Research linkages • Clinical practices and community outreach • combination of all above

3. Principles underlining project design • Capacity building • sustainability • Gender development • Community outreach • Low risk to environmental damage • Evaluation: on-going & summative

4. Capacity building: to improve • health care knowledge/skills of teachers & practitioners in certain area • teaching skills • research skills • Curriculum content

5. sustainability • Project activities and outcomes continue following project completion. For Example: - Teachers with improved qualifications abroad return to institution to apply new knowledge/skills • new curriculum content is integrated into existing curriculum. - New program is designed to meet the changing needs of society. - Teachers use new teaching methods in classroom and clinical teaching

6. Gender development • Participation of women in all aspects of project: • Project management • Education/Training • research

7. Community outreach • Project outcomes benefit not only the partner institutions, but the communities at large. Examples: - teachers and students work with the community leaders to identify its health issues and design implementations to address the issues. - Teachers with new knowledge/skills upgrade current healthcare workers in hospitals and communities

8. Low risk to environmental damage • Project activities and outcomes improve the environment or at least protect it.

9. Evaluation: on-going & summative • Project outcomes and impacts must be clear, measurable, achievable during project life, and can be monitored. • Evaluation is on-going, at mid-point and at end of project. • Evaluation: internal and external

10. Examples of past projects • Training Primary Health Care Workers in Rural Vietnam - Canadian partner: Memorial University - Vietnampartner: Secondary Technical Medical School 1(STMS1) (Truong Cao Dang Y te 1, Hai Duong, VN-now a university) - Project duration: May 1997 - May 2002 - Project purpose: • increase the capacity of STMS1 to produce a better qualified and sustainable primary health care workforce. • improve the provision of health care in rural areas of three northern provinces through training and links between rural health centres and STMS1.

11. Examples of past projects • Poverty Reduction by Improving health & Social Work - Canadian partner: Memorial University - Vietnampartner: College of Labor & Social Affairs, Hanoi (now a University) - Project duration: June 2002 - March 2008 - Project purpose: to improve the quality of education for Vietnamese social workers and social work educators by enhancing the capacity of the College of Labor and Social Affairs (CLSA) in Hanoi to sustain its social work training program.

12. Examples of past projects • Health services delivery forpoor rural communities • Canadian partner: Memorial University • VietNam partners: *University of Medicine & Pharmacy, HCM city *Hue Medical College, Faculty of Nursing *Thanh Hoa Medical College *Soc Trang Department of Health -- Project Duration: 2004-2009 • Purpose: To reduce poverty by improving health, nutrition, and better training of Primary Health Care workers so that health care is more accessible to the poor.

13. HIV/AIDS community clinics network • Canadian partner: British Columbia Centre for disease control • Project duration: 2001-2009 • Purpose: supports Vietnam's efforts to combat HIV/AIDS in four provinces, An Giang, Kien Giang, Can Tho & Ho-Chi-Minh city through the establishment of a network of 12 health clinics and outreach programs to target high risk, vulnerable populations of commercial sex workers, intravenous drug users, and youth.

14. Examples of past collaboration in research • Stigma of HIV/AIDS in a community in Vietnam: an action research approach - Canadian partner: Memorial University - VietNam partner: U. of Medicine & Pharmacy, HCMC - Project duration: 2005-2007 - Purpose: • *assess the HIV/AIDS related stigma and its impact on the infected person’s life, his/her family and on the control of further infection • *identify culturally sensitive interventions to address the issue.

15. Future Avenues for collaboration • Health & illnesses have no border • With globalization, infectious diseases can become global in days, ex SARS, bird flu, H1N1, HIV/AIDS… • Why certain diseases are more prevalent in certain areas of the world and not others? • Standards of treatment and care • Better access to health care • Global health research

16. Lessons learned • What does it take to collaborate internationally? - easy access to information about your institutions: have website with history, programs offered, course syllabus, faculty qualifications, research/publications, strengths, past/current international collaborations, areas of needs… - adequate English capacity - facilities for communication, internet access - working space for foreign visitor - Sharing experiences and/or learning from other institutions who have collaborated internationally.

17. What makes the partnership work? • Mutually rewarding: Have the interest of all parties. Project objectives congruent with partners’ needs→↑ national support • Personal chemistry: respect for others, sensitivity to local realities, empathy, capacity to build and maintain relationship. • Commitment: hard working, resourceful, not giving up easily when facing challenges, stable leadership.

18. What makes the partnership work? • Equal ownership: project is jointly planned & implemented • Understanding of local context: socio- political, cultural and economic context • Build a formal & informal network of support: • Predict risks→Proactive strategies to prevent & deal with them • learn from other international projects

19. What makes the partnership work? • Have alternative plan for each objective • Design culturally sensitive & context relevant plan • Flexible, creative approach • Use local expertise • Clear roles & responsibilities • Constant communication

20. For more information: www.mun.ca/cin Acknowledgment: Advices and contributions to this presentation from Dr Tran Trong Gien, University research Professor, Memorial University are gratefully acknowledged.