The Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health (SSHSPH), National University of Singapore, strengthened its commitment to public health collaboration in Cambodia through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH), under the Ministry of Health, Cambodia.
Representing SSHSPH were Professor Alex Cook, Vice Dean of Global Health; Associate Professor Siyan Yi, Lead of the Cambodia Programme; and Ms Esabelle Yam, Deputy Lead of the Cambodia Programme. The signing ceremony took place at NIPH in Phnom Penh, with the agreement signed by Professor Chhea Chhorvann, Director of NIPH, and Professor Alex Cook, marking a significant milestone in fostering long-term cooperation between the two institutions.
NIPH is Cambodia’s premier public health institution, providing laboratory services, research, and professional training to improve population health. The newly signed MoU will enhance collaboration in areas including research and evaluation, training and capacity building, including but not limited to non-communicable and communicable disease modelling, health economics, and health financing.
As part of this collaboration, SSHSPH’s Health Intervention and Policy Evaluation Research (HIPER) team, led by Associate Professor Wee Hwee Lin and Assistant Professor Wang Yi, is supporting the development and teaching of NIPH’s newly launched Master of Public Health in Health Economics and Financing programme, which will welcome its first cohort in 2025.
Further discussions are underway on new areas of cooperation, including diabetes modelling, led by Professor Alec Morton and supported by Associate Professor Kavita Venkataraman.
During the visit, the SSHSPH delegation—accompanied by Dr Alvin Teo, Visiting Research Fellow—also attended the official launch of the SHIFT-TB (Strengthening Health Systems Through Integrated Risk Factor Intervention and Tuberculosis Case-Finding) project opened by Her Excellency Dr Youk Sambath, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Health. Funded by L’Initiative via Expertise France, the SHIFT-TB project has been awarded to KHANA, a leading Cambodian NGO, to deliver active tuberculosis (TB) case finding and integrated interventions targeting key TB risk factors.
SSHSPH, represented by Associate Professor Siyan Yi, Associate Professor Mary Chong, and Ms Sreymon Oy, is a key implementing partner in the SHIFT-TB project alongside the University of Sydney, TBpeople Cambodia, and other partners. Together, the partners will support the National Center for Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control (CENAT), the National Maternal and Child Health Center (NMCHC), and the Provincial Health Departments of Kampong Thom and Tboung Khmum. SSHSPH’s contributions focus on components related to health systems strengthening and nutrition interventions.
The visit concluded with several high-level meetings between SSHSPH representatives and national stakeholders to identify priority areas for future collaboration. These discussions will inform and shape the strategic direction of the SSHSPH Cambodia Programme in the years to come.
