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Training and Dialogue Programs |
Keywords: University of the Ryukyus, Regional Health, Strengthening of Maternal and Child Health, Infectious Disease Control, Action Plan, Knowledge Co-Creation, JICA-Net, Regional Internationalization Since 2018, our company has been contracted to conduct various courses of the "JICA Okinawa Knowledge Co-Creation (KCCP) Program” related to health and medical fields at the JICA Okinawa Center. The courses are implemented with technical cooperation from the University of the Ryukyus, mainly with technical support from the Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences. Okinawa Prefecture, despite severe shortages of supplies and personnel following the Battle of Okinawa, has achieved significant reductions in maternal and child mortality rates, eradicated infectious diseases like malaria, and extended universal health coverage to remote islands. This program aims to learn from Okinawa and Japan's health systems during and after the reconstruction period, and to utilize these insights to promote maternal and child health and infectious disease control in participants' home countries. In 2018, the course entitled "Public Health Activities for Strengthening Maternal and Child Health (MCH course)" is conducted in English, Spanish, and in Portuguese. "Strengthening of Community Health System for Infectious Diseases Control (IDC course)" and the "Evidence-Based Public Health Planning (EBPH course)" are both conducted in English. These courses have been participated by various nationalities all over the world. From 2018 to 2023 we conducted the following KCCP Group and Region Focus courses:
The courses cover topics such as the role of public health nurses, activities of maternal and child health promotion volunteers, the role of school health nurses, infectious disease information systems, hospital infection control measures, as well as global trends and advocacy methods of international NGOs. Participants also develop action plans (plans for activities to be implemented after returning home). To promote Knowledge Co-Creation, participants actively present their country's public health activities and learn from each other. In 2019, participants from 2018 (from Nigeria, Indonesia, and El Salvador) were invited to local JICA offices to provide advice on action plan formulation via JICA-Net (a video conferencing system). Some action plan presentation sessions were held at the University of the Ryukyus, with discussions and exchanges of opinions among the commenting faculty, JICA personnel, and graduate students specializing in international health. In addition to skills transfer to participants, regional internationalization is also a crucial objective of the program. Nursing students from universities and vocational schools, who will be future health professionals in Okinawa, deepened their interaction with trainees through interviews and attending lectures. Visits to local elementary and junior high schools were also actively conducted. At the Okinawa Global Festival held at JICA Okinawa, exchanges with local residents of Urasoe City were also conducted. Hosting numerous participants and conducting the courses were significant challenges for our company, but with the president serving as the course leader, we operated as a united team. Experiences from our international technical projects and domestic training in areas such as the dissemination of maternal and child health handbooks, 5S-KAIZEN-TQM, nutritional improvement, and HIV/AIDS countermeasures were also utilized in lectures and other sessions. |
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