World Class Professor 2022 Inaugural Seminar Discusses Post-pandemic Public Health and Environmental Conditions

The Faculty of Public Health (FPH) Universitas Indonesia (UI), together with the Environmental Health Student Association (ENVIHSA) FPH UI, is again holding a series of World Class Professor (WCP) activities in 2022. WCP is an activity initiated by the Department of Environmental Health FPH UI educator, Dr. Al Asyary Upe, S.K.M., M.P.H., and funded directly by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology. The WCP activities include research collaboration and fine-tuning, as well as a series of seminars (Guest Lecture and Workshop). On Wednesday, 14 September 2022, the first series of Guest Lectures were held with the WCP Professors and Team.

The event was opened with a presentation on Safety and Sanitary Induction by FPH UI students and remarks by the Head of the FPH UI Environmental Health Department, Dr. drg. Ririn Arminsih Wulandari, M.Kes. The event was then taken over by Rony Darmawansyah Ainur, S.K.M., M.P.H., as the moderator.

The keynote speaker, Priv.-Doz, delivered the first presentation. Dr. Hanns Moshammer of the Medical University of Vienna, Austria. Doctor Moshammer conveyed post-pandemic conditions in Austria, how the world should respond, and the state of public health and environmental health. Doctor Moshammer also delivered basic material regarding pandemics in his presentation, “Basically, a pandemic is an epidemic that occurs globally. An epidemic has a spatial and temporal focus and peak compared to an infectious disease’s endemic state.”

After Dr. Moshammer delivered his material, it was Dr.’s turn. Al Asyary to deliver his material regarding Housing in the Post-Pandemic Period. This material was raised considering that during the COVID-19 Pandemic, most activities were carried out at home and other residences. Post-pandemic, activities began normally taking place, and people started their activities as usual. “We have entered a transitional period where some populations are starting to be able to take off their masks in public places,” said Dr. Al Ashary. The material presented has been published in the Public Health Service Journal titled “Healthy Home Intervention and Prevention of COVID-19 Transmission in Bogor Regency”.

The last presentation was delivered by Ramadhan Tosepu, S.K.M., M.Kes., Ph.D., from Halu Oleo University. Ramadhan conveyed reflections on the era of COVID-19, the sustainability of COVID-19 programs, and predictions of future conditions. This material synthesises various journal articles that Ramadhan has published, as well as discussions and other literature studies. Ramadhan also mentioned a little about the Monkeypox outbreak, which is currently a hot issue. “I hope that we (in the field of public health) can pay more attention to protecting the distribution of Monkeypox in Indonesia,” said Ramadhan.

The webinar, which more than 80 people attended, was followed by a question and answer session. Participants seemed very enthusiastic, as seen from the many questions asked. In the future, other WCP activities can be monitored through the Instagram accounts @fkm_ui and @envihsafkmui. (BK)