AHI Quarterly Newsletter - June 2004

Welcome to Aus Health International's second quarterly newsletter for 2004:

PROJECTS WON AND NEW INITIATIVES

• AHI has won the World Bank funded Health Financing Component of the Health Sector Support Project in Tonga. Mobilisation commenced in May 2004.

• AHI has won the World Bank funded "Evaluation of NGO Contracting Study" in partnership with Bangladeshi firm ADSL.

• AHI is working with the Doha Asian Games Organising Committee on a possible State of Preparedness Report for the Medical Program and the Doping Control Program for the Games, which will be held in Doha, Qatar in 2006.

• Dubai Specialist Medical Centre: AHI is providing technical advice and facility planning for the development of a new Specialist Medical Centre at the Dubai Health Care City in the United Arab Emirates. The proposed Centre will house a Urology Clinic, with other clinical specialties and a Diagnostic Imaging Centre.

• AHI is providing two leading Australian oncologists to NSW's partner hospital in Guangdong, the Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, to deliver lectures to clinicians.

• East Timor Mental Health Project - the first Phase of this project has come to an end and AHI is in discussion with AusAID about the next phase, to consolidate achievements for sustainability

• Mongolia Health Sector Development Project - AHI's MD Ross Sutton departed for Mongolia this month to undertake a consultancy in donor harmonisation

• Nauru Health Sector Support Facility - AHI is continuing to manage the Nauru Health Sector Assistance Facility. Project Manager, Jackie Stephenson spent five weeks in Nauru in April/May, assisting the Medical Director with coordination of activities. This Facility involves working with our local counterparts in Nauru in the areas of workforce planning and development, coordination of a major capital works project refurbishing the Emergency Department, High Dependency Unit, general ward, and X-Ray Department, the development of an effective stores and consumables ordering and purchasing system, equipment maintenance and procurement and medical staffing provision. In May, AHI deployed a Nurse Educator for a one year contract in Nauru to build capacity of health staff as well as support staff in the Nauru DoH.

• Tonga Health Sector Financing Component (World Bank) - two consultants have been mobilised to commence this Project.

• Tonga Health Sector Planning and Management Project (AusAID). Activities in budgeting and accounting, human resources and management training within the Ministry of Health have been running smoothly, and the AusAID TAG team have recently recommended an extension of the Project into its seventh year. This is currently under discussion with the MOH.

• Vietnam Child Health Project - Senior Manager, Sharon Gudu visited the Project in May to attend inception workshops. For information on upcoming consultancies on this Project, please visit our website. These include: a Paediatric Rehabilitation Consultant and Rational Drug Use Consultant.

• Al Ahli Hospital: We have appointed a new Director of Finance and Business Development who will join the Executive Management Team currently in Doha. The hospital is expected to be fully operational in third quarter 2004.

• Vidya Kariappa, Corporate Services, is on maternity leave and will return to work in January 2005. Polly Taie has moved from reception to provide support to the Corporate Services department

• AHI would like to extend a warm welcome to Dr Gavin Frost, AHI's new General Manager of Business Development; Rische Kumarasinghe, responsible for strategic planning and commercial development; and Nicole Cossil, our new receptionist.