18 September 2023, CANBERRA – Philippine Ambassador to Australia H.E. Ma. Hellen De La Vega welcomed Dr. January Magkalas-Nones, Chief Meat Control Officer of the National Meat Inspection Service of the Department of Agriculture of the Philippines and Dr. Melanie Pescadilla, City Veterinarian of Bais City Negros Oriental on 16 September 2023.

Dr. Magkalas-Nones and Dr. Pescadilla were selected by the Australian National University (ANU) National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health and the Commonwealth of Australia to present their work in the 1st South Asia Field Epidemiology and Public Health Interventions Network (SAFETYNET) Scientific Conference for Technical Experts on Epidemiology held on 12-15 September 2023 in Canberra.

With the theme "Connecting the dots: Advancing Human, Animal and Ecosystem Health", the Conference served as platform to provide the latest information on human, animal and environmental health as well as field epidemiology methods as part of regional efforts to increase collaboration and build the capacity of health systems in all countries and territories in the Asia Pacific region. -END-