Last April 1, 2016, researchers from the Institute of Philippine Culture’s (IPC) project, eHealth TABLET for Informed Decision Making of LGUs (eHATID), worked with professionals and fellow researchers from Indonesia’s National Institute of Health Research and Development (NIHRD) for the first Health Technologies for Informed Decision-Making of Local Government Units (HATID) ASEAN Technical Workshop held in Jakarta, Indonesia.

eHATID’s Project Director (Dennis Batangan, MD, MSc) and Project Manager (Camille Caliso) collaborated with health professionals from Indonesia to review the HATID ASEAN project proposal. Also present in the workshop were ASEAN Secretariat Representative Ms Jennifer dela Rosa and the Philippine Permanent Mission to the ASEAN Second Secretary Ms Vanessa Bago-Llona. The HATID ASEAN project was initiated to address the problems of the ASEAN region in data collection, health information systems, and health-related decision-making by government officials.

In the HATID ASEAN workshop, participants analyzed and compared the contexts of three ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines) and found ways to harmonize eHealth policies in the region. In addition, they validated the draft implementation guidelines of the HATID ASEAN project and drafted an agreement among partners for the preparations and anticipated tasks for the said project.

The eHATID team is set to attend more workshops for the planning and implementation of the HATID ASEAN project.