On 6 October 2017, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) “for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons". The citation refers to the historic UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, adopted on 7 July 2017 by 122 nations, which provides the first international treaty-based comprehensive prohibition of nuclear weapons, based on the catastrophic consequences of any use of nuclear weapons, and their humanitarian unacceptability.ICAN was established through International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), itself a Nobel Peace laureate (1985), and its Australian affiliate, the Medical Association for Prevention of War in Australia. ICAN was founded in Melbourne, and first launched in Victoria’s Parliament House on 23 April 2007 by former prime minister and Nossal board member Malcolm Fraser. ICAN is the first Australian-born organisation to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. A number of other people associated with the university, including Prof Fred Mendelsohn, Prof John Langmore and Prof Richard Tanter, have made important contributions to ICAN, and the university and Nossal Institute have been host to a number of ICAN meetings and events, including ICAN’s first committee meeting.A/Prof Tilman Ruff AM, who serves as a co-president of IPPNW, was a co-founder of ICAN and its founding international and Australian chair, and led the IPPNW delegation throughout the treaty negotiations in New York.

Cultural adaptation of Mental Health First Aid for China

On Monday and Tuesday 28-29 May, the Nossal Institute at the University of Melbourne, supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade hosted a visit to Melbourne by Ms Shakuntala Doley Gamlin, Secretary of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) in the Indian Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. The Secretary was accompanied by Joint Secretary Dr Prabodh Seth.This visit was facilitated by A/Professor Nathan Grills from the Nossal Institute and Professor Bruce Bonyhady from the Melbourne Disability Institute.  It builds on their research in disability in India and is the culmination of a Development-For-All focus at the Australian High Commission in New Delhi.

How to improve the prevention and self-management of type 2 diabetes in real-world settings?

Factors influencing health outcomes and financial wellbeing of patients with drug resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB): a mixed methods study in Punjab, Pakistan

Dissemination of Findings (March 24, India)The project utilises the Rapid Assessment of Disability (RAD) to study the The Impact of Disabled People’s Organisations. The  study results were released in Uttarakhand, North India on the 24th March 2018.  Over 120 people, including government officials, the media, DPO members and others with disability, and various NGOs working in disability were represented. There was significant local interest as to the policy implication and the event received widespread media coverage in Uttarakhand, North India.

Community-Led Total Sanitation in Timor-LesteNaomi Francis has a Bachelor of Environmental Engineering and Arts with honours in Development Studies from the University of Melbourne. She worked for several years conducting flood studies with engineering consultants BMT WBM. Currently, Naomi combines her studies with water, sanitation and hygiene research consulting in South Asia and the Pacific as well as tutoring and lecturing at the University of Melbourne and RMITIn 2015, around one-third of Timor-Leste’s rural population still did not have access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); however, there is sparse research about the nature and outcomes of the many interventions implemented in Timor-Leste to address this.  As part of an NHMRC-funded trial entitled ‘WASH for Worms’, this PhD research explored a WASH program implemented in remote parts of Manufahi Municipality, Timor-Leste with particular focus on the sanitation component which was based on ‘Community-Led Total Sanitation’ (CLTS).

PhD Completion SEMINAR Modern multitasking mamas: Exploring the reproductive experiences, understandings & desires of recently delivered middle class women in Yogyakarta, IndonesiaDate: Friday, 19 January 2018 at 11.30 – 12.30 pmVenue: Arole Room, Nossal Institute for Global Health Level 5, 333 Exhibition Street, CBD

In Vanuatu, people with disabilities are at least twice as likely to be injured during a cyclone than people without disabilities—according to a new report published by the CBM—Nossal Partnership for Disability Inclusive Development.

Between 28 August to 22 September 2017, 85 UNICEF staff participated in a two-week workshop on Health Systems Strengthening (HSS), offered in back-to-back cohorts. This was the final component of a blended learning program that began in May 2017.

The Nossal Institute is delighted to announce that our very own Professor Tilman Ruff and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

How can we strengthen the ‘ethics’ in health systems research?Wednesday 9th August 201712.30- 1.30pmNossal Institute for Global Health, Arole Room, Level 5, 333 Exhibiton Street, Melbourne

Leading international thinkers discuss ambitious international commitments to leaving no-one behind: disability, social inclusion, health and sustainable development.

Analyzing and Potential Solutions for Geographical Inequality in Maternal Health Care Utilization in Indonesia

The Nossal Institute has been awarded a VicHealth Sustainable Development Goals Partnership Grant for the project “Back to two wheels, biking to health-opportunities and challenges in enhancing road safety for smart sharing of bikes in China”. The VicHealth SDG Partnership Grant Round aims to build collaborative research partnerships with the potential to address the impact of global megatrends on specific UN Sustainable Development Goal targets. Arising from the boom of private bike-sharing service in China, this project aims to investigate the opportunities for increasing physical activity and the challenges of ensuring road safety as a means to assist in reducing premature mortality from NCDs and enhancing inclusive and sustainable urbanization. More importantly, it offers an opportunity for strengthening inter-sectoral policy development and public-private partnership in health promotion in digital transformation.Prof. Peter Annear, Prof. Barbara McPake and Ph.D candidate Tianxin Pan from the Nossal Institute will work closely with partners from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization China Office. This project will enhance partnership between VicHealth and University of Melbourne, and such collaboration is expected to lead to further activities between UoM and counterparts in China in public health and health promotion.(Source:  Tianxin Pan, Nossal Institute)

On Wednesday 5th April, the Global Health Alliance, based at the Nossal Institute for Global Health, hosted a private briefing for Alliance members with Dr Shin Young-Soo, Regional Director, WHO Office for the Western Pacific and Dr Vivien Lin, Director, Health Systems, WHO, WPRO.

Ageing populations and changing population health trends require a massive scale-up of appropriate rehabilitation services. The Nossal Institute for Global Health recently participated in the historic Rehabilitation 2030: A call to action, held at the headquarters of the World Health Organization in Geneva.

In our region, economies are growing, populations are ageing and the burden of disease is shifting. How can we make health systems more flexible and more sustainable?

A study on the effectiveness of Cambodia's Health Equity Fund program, which subsidises basic health care for the poor, was launched by the Nossal Institute and its partners last month in Phnom Penh.

Health delivery in many low to middle income countries is being compromised by private operators offering poor service by unqualified practitioners at exorbitant cost, according to a new Lancet Series co-edited by the University of Melbourne and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

If Big Tobacco screams you can be sure something is working and Big Tobacco certainly screams about plain packaging

Since 2013, Ms Sally Baker has been advising the Australian Government-funded Vanuatu Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Sector Strengthening Program in disability inclusion. Sally developed and oversees the implementation of a strategy which addresses the barriers which prevent people with disability from accessing skills development activities such as agriculture and handicraft production training, alongside everyone else.

The state of Manipur in Northeast India has been characterised by the dual public health problems of illicit injecting drug use and consequent HIV and hepatitis C infection for more than two decades. During the month of April, Associate Professor Michelle Kermode from the Nossal Institute and Dr David Jacka from Monash Health were working in Manipur to strengthen the delivery of methadone treatment for people who inject opioid drugs such as heroin.

In March 2016 an exciting International Forum ‘Better Together’ took place in Dehradun, North India. Facilitated and coordinated by Dr Grills of the Nossal Institute, approximately 40 people from eight countries met together to develop improved collaboration, effective networking and translate the current research into effective practice.

WHO commissions the Nossal Institute to teach the economics of health systems in Myanmar

With only one of the Sustainable Development Goals dedicated to health, what does that mean for maternal and newborn health globally?

Researchers give breath of life to critically ill children in developing countries.

Lisa Mamone looks at the tropical disease burden impacting the developing world, and the training that's needed to equip health workers and researchers to tackle it.