Indonesian delegation visits RDN to “bridge borders” and advance rural health care

A significant partnership between RDN and Universitas Pattimura in Ambon has been formalised with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding last month, and a tour of rural areas of New South Wales around Orange and Blayney by a delegation from the Indonesian university, with presentations made to RDN’s Rural Health Month Conferences at Manly.

The partnership has already opened the way for a fruitful international exchange of ideas on remote health care access. Supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Australia-Indonesia Institute Grant, the collaboration aims to address rural health challenges in Maluku Province through sustainable and impactful strategies.

“RDN believes in the strength of rural and remote communities and health services working together,” says RDN Chief Operating Officer Mike Edwards. “Studying the commonalities between the remote island health care experiences of Indonesia and the remote outback experiences of Australia has highlighted for us the benefits of pooling collective wisdom - of sharing, understanding and adapting for local context, successful approaches to the challenges of rural and remote healthcare.”

The esteemed guests from the Universitas Pattimura who visited RDN were Professor Fredy Leiwakabessy, M.Pd, University Rector, Dr. Bertha Que, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Farah Noya, Chair, Bioethics and Medical Humanities, Faculty of Medicine and Dr. Parningotan Yosi Silalahi, Head, Department of Rural (Marine and Maritime) Doctors, Faculty of Medicine.

“We learned a lot here from Australia,’ said Dr Que, who took a particular interest in the possibilities of Virtual Care. “I think this is an opportunity in accordance with what we want to do in our community in Maluku. We are trying to find a way to make doctors live in rural areas and how to make our government concerned and make community a priority.”

Listening in during their presentations at the Rural GPs and Student Conferences at Manly was President of the World Organisation of Family Doctors (WONCA) Dr Karen Flegg.

“The Indonesians showed us that we’re not the only place in the world with true rural medicine and their rural medicine is somewhat different to ours with, I suspect, even more access difficulties than we have,” said Dr Flegg. “I also saw that while they seem to be new in their program, they’re leaders.”

RDN’s Robyn Ramsden, said the past year has been transformative for the partnership.

“Our partnership with Universitas Pattimura exemplifies how shared knowledge and mutual commitment can help to transform healthcare challenges into sustainable solutions for the communities that need it most,” she said.

“Through a shared vision and commitment, several milestones have been achieved,” she said. These include:

• A Memorandum of Understanding signed to formalise collaboration and commit to pooling expertise and resources for healthcare solutions.
• Joint research on Buru Island highlighted gaps in the Island Cluster Referral System.
• Recommendations to optimise regional referral strategies are underway via a policy document and joint publications.
• Knowledge exchange through workshops with medical students and university staff.
• Practical observation of rural clinical schools and virtual care in NSW.
• Visited sites across rural NSW to gain further insights to guide sustainable solutions for training and retaining healthcare professionals in Maluku Province.
• Participated in the Australian Indonesia Business Council (AIBC) conference and key events to strengthen advocacy and partnerships.
• Sharing findings through social media, digital platforms, peer-reviewed publications, and collaborative discussions.