Taichung, Taiwan – The Faculty of Public Health (FKM) at Hasanuddin University (Unhas) has once again affirmed its position as a leading academic institution in Indonesia concerning global health issues, particularly in the critical domain of health literacy. FKM Unhas dispatched a large and formidable contingent to actively participate in the 11th Asian Health Literacy Association (AHLA) Conference 2025, held at the Chung Shan Medical University Hospital in Taichung, Taiwan, from November 24 to 25, 2025.
This highly prestigious scientific forum served as an essential meeting point for academics, researchers, and practitioners from various countries across Asia, and notably, it also attracted substantial participation from Europe. The presence of Hasanuddin University, represented robustly by FKM, stands as a clear testament to the university’s unwavering commitment to expanding its international academic network and disseminating high-impact research findings relevant to contemporary global health challenges. The conference provided an invaluable platform for FKM Unhas to showcase its scholarly output on a global stage.
Contingent Strength and Academic Focus of FKM Unhas
The FKM Unhas contingent that travelled to Taichung brought a solid academic force, comprising 3 senior lecturers and 10 postgraduate students. This well-balanced delegation composition underscores the faculty’s strong commitment to actively involving its students in international research dissemination—a key element in shaping future global health leaders.
Specifically, the FKM Unhas delegation included:
- Three senior lecturers serving as lead researchers and primary presenters.
- Nine Master’s (S2) students specializing in the Health Promotion concentration of the Public Health Study Program.
- One Doctoral (S3) student from the Public Health Study Program.
The significant involvement of S2 and S3 students, particularly from the Health Promotion and Behavioral Science concentration, highlights FKM Unhas’s strategic focus on developing public health behavioral science. This field is widely recognized as the fundamental key to effectively enhancing health literacy and fundamentally modifying population behavior, which is essential for sustainable health improvements.
Leading Research Dominates the Plenary Session
FKM Unhas’s participation in this year’s AHLA Conference was exceptionally prominent, with a total of four scientific articles accepted for presentation. Even more significantly, three of these articles were awarded the prestigious honor of being presented in the plenary session, the main forum attended by all conference participants and considered the most distinguished session of the event. The remaining one article was presented during the poster session.
The research papers presented by the delegation addressed highly crucial health issues that have significant national and global impact:
- Prof. Suriah, SKM, M.Kes, presented her research titled: “Health Literacy to Stimulate the Intention of Prospective Brides in Stunting Prevention”. This research is acutely relevant to the Indonesian government’s major effort to tackle the persistent problem of stunting. Prof. Suriah’s work rigorously analyzes how the health literacy levels of prospective brides influence their intention to adopt necessary stunting prevention practices in the future. The findings offer strong scientific evidence to underpin the formulation of education-based pre-marital policies.
- Dr. Shanti Riskiyani, SKM, M.Kes, shared the compelling results of her research titled: “HIV Literacy and Social Support among High-risk Group in Makassar”. This study illuminates how understanding (literacy) of HIV and the role of social support can influence prevention and management behaviors among high-risk groups in the city of Makassar. The research provides practical recommendations for developing more effective, culturally sensitive health promotion interventions.
- Nurhaya Nurdin, a Doctoral student (S3) from the Public Health Study Program, contributed significantly to the main session with a comprehensive literature review presentation titled: “A Scoping Review of Health Literacy Intervention for Informal Dementia Caregivers in Low and Middle Income Countries”. This timely literature review is crucial for bridging the knowledge gap on how health literacy interventions can be successfully applied to support informal dementia caregivers in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), a group that is often overlooked in global health discourse.
The remarkable achievement of having three FKM Unhas works selected for the plenary session is a powerful international recognition of the quality, rigor, and topic relevance of the research conducted by the Faculty of Public Health at Unhas.
Strengthening Networking and Postgraduate Education Quality
The substantial participation of S2 and S3 students in this international conference provides an immense value-add to the quality of postgraduate education at FKM Unhas. Students not only gained exposure by witnessing presentations from global experts but were also directly immersed in the rigorous international academic environment.
This proactive participation perfectly aligns with FKM Unhas’s commitment to achieving key Institutional Performance Indicators (IKU), specifically concerning internationalization and global engagement of its students. Students were actively encouraged to interact with participants from leading universities, establish vital professional networking contacts, and compare their research methodologies with established international standards. This invaluable experience will significantly enrich their theses and dissertations, simultaneously preparing them to become outstanding, globally aware public health researchers and academics.
Cross-National Collaboration and Policy Contribution
During the inter-session breaks at the Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, FKM Unhas lecturers and students engaged in intensive communication with representatives from various member organizations of the AHLA. These meetings successfully initiated potential pathways for:
- Joint Research: Collaborative research projects, particularly focusing on persistent shared regional challenges such as stunting and emerging infectious diseases in Asia.
- Student and Faculty Exchange: Developing robust exchange programs with universities in Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan to facilitate the vital transfer of public health knowledge and expertise.
- Curriculum Development: Incorporating the latest global health literacy trends and findings directly into the Health Promotion curriculum at FKM Unhas, ensuring its continued relevance.
The research presented, particularly on stunting and HIV, extends beyond mere academic merit; it holds significant potential to influence public policy. For instance, Prof. Suriah’s findings on the literacy of prospective brides can serve as a strong basis for local Health Departments to immediately revise and strengthen their pre-marital education modules in regions like South Sulawesi.
Health Literacy and its Link to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
FKM Unhas’s active engagement in the AHLA Conference directly supports the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically those related to health, education, and global partnership.
- SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being): All the research presented—ranging from stunting prevention (Target 3.2), HIV control (Target 3.3), to support for dementia caregivers—contributes directly to enhancing the quality of life and health for all ages. Health literacy is the fundamental cornerstone for achieving universal health coverage and ensuring populations are empowered to make informed health decisions.
- SDG 4 (Quality Education): The involvement of S2 and S3 students in an international conference is a tangible manifestation of FKM Unhas’s efforts to provide high-quality, relevant, and globally oriented education (Target 4.7).
- SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals): The AHLA Conference is an ideal platform for global partnership. Through the rigorous dissemination of research and the initiation of collaborations with AHLA member universities, FKM Unhas strengthens the international alliances necessary to accelerate the transfer of knowledge and technology to overcome complex global health challenges.
This contribution by FKM Unhas clearly demonstrates that research in the field of Health Promotion holds a central role as one of the most effective non-medical interventions for solving complex health problems, fully aligning with Unhas’s vision as a high-impact World-Class University.
Conclusion: The Spirit of Knowledge Dissemination
The successful participation of FKM Unhas in the 11th Asian Health Literacy Association Conference in Taichung, Taiwan, is not merely an attendance record, but a powerful affirmation of the quality and global relevance of FKM’s research portfolio. The opportunity to present three articles in the plenary session and one poster is a proud achievement that significantly reinforces the reputation of the Public Health Study Program at FKM Unhas across the Asia-Pacific region. Driven by this spirit of knowledge dissemination, FKM Unhas remains highly optimistic about its ongoing role in building healthier, more educated, and highly health-literate societies in Indonesia and throughout the world.