Lecturer of the Faculty of Public Health (FKM) Universitas Indonesia (UI), dr. Agustin Kusumayati, M.Sc., Ph.D., who currently also serves as University Secretary of UI, received the Medal of Merit at the 2024 Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health (APACPH) conference. This award is given by APACPH to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to improving professional education for public health.
APACPH President Prof. Dr. So Yoon Kim from Yonsei University College of Medicine, Republic of Korea, announced the Medal of Merit award at the conference’s opening at the BEXCO Convention Center in Busan, South Korea. The award was presented by Secretary-General Prof. Dr. Indika Mahesh Karunathilake from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
At the award ceremony, dr. Agustin received the award together with several other figures, namely Prof. Dr. Betty Ya-Wen Chiu (Executive Director, Health Policy Center, Institute of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Taiwan) and Prof. Dr. Elahe Nezami (Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, The United States of America). With the theme “Public Health: Shifting Paradigm for Future Society and Community”, this event will be held on October 23-25, 2024.
“I am truly grateful for the awarding of the APACPH Medal of Merit. This award, which is given to people who have made meaningful contributions to the development of Public Health education, can be obtained because of the support of many parties. First, of course, the support from FKM UI which has always been a pioneer in the development of public health education in Indonesia,” said dr. Agustin.
She added that the next support came from two organizations that have an important role in the development of professionalism in the field of public health, namely Ikatan Ahli Kesehatan Masyarakat Indonesia (Indonesian Public Health Experts Association) and Asosiasi Institusi Pendidikan Tinggi Kesehatan Masyarakat Indonesia (Association of Indonesian Public Health Higher Education Institutions). She also expressed her gratitude for the support of all parties, along with the hope that they can continue to work together to fight for the advancement of public health education, so that the public health experts produced are able to provide the best for the people, nation, and state of Indonesia.
Since 2015, dr. Agustin served as Regional Director for Indonesia at APACPH. Then, in 2019-2021 and 2021-2023 she served as President. In 2023-2025, she served as Immediate Past President.
APACPH is an international non-profit organization registered in Honolulu, United States, consisting of the largest and most influential public health schools in the Asia-Pacific region. This organization is dedicated to improving the education of public health professionals. Launched in 1984 with only five members, APACPH now has more than 81 member institutions from 23 countries across the Asia-Pacific region with Regional Offices in Bangkok, Beijing, Brisbane, Colombo, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Los Angeles, Taipei, and Tokyo.
The vision of this consortium is to achieve the highest possible level of health for all people in countries in the Asia-Pacific region. With the aim of increasing regional capacity to improve the quality of life and address major public health challenges through the delivery of education, research, and population health services by member institutions.
