Over 400 health professionals will come together in Wollongong for the annual Australian Public Health Conference to discuss what is shaping public health in Australia and beyond.
Organised by the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA), this year’s conference themed ‘Leadership and collaboration to connect a divided world’, runs from Tuesday to Thursday this week.
PHAA CEO, Adjunct Professor Terry Slevin said there’ll be a range of topics on the agenda, including a session on how AI is reimagining public health prevention.
“One of the challenges is to make sure that the information that gets to people is accurate and based on strong evidence. Now, the simple truth is AI captures what information is in the public domain through websites around the world and we’ve got to make sure that the advice that comes through is accurate and based on strong science,” Slevin said.
“We need to know that the way policy goes is influenced by the best science, and that science gets presented at our meetings
“We know there’s lots of pop culture. There’s lots of influences. There’s lots of commercial interest that skew
hat information is provided, so the challenge is to make sure that the advice that comes to people about health is absolutely based on sound science and evidence
“But there’s also potential opportunities for efficiencies as well, so the challenge is about making sure we get this right by making sure that AI doesn’t take over health advice. It really should come from qualified experts and professionals.”
The conference will feature core issues which influence Australian’s health on a day-to-day basis, as well as more widespread issues such as tobacco control, alcohol, environmental policies and more.
Article by Paige Jenkins
