South-South collaboration to strengthen primary care: supporting the localisation of South Africa’s Practical Approach to Care Kit (PACK) for Indonesia
1
Knowledge Translation Unit, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
Popul. Med. 2026;8(Supplement Supplement 1):A1631
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
In 2022, the World Bank engaged the University of Cape Town’s Knowledge Translation Unit (KTU) to support the Indonesian Ministry of Health (MoH) to prepare PACK, a South African-developed health system intervention1 comprising a clinical decision support tool, training curriculum and implementation strategy. Supporting National Health Insurance (JKN) reforms, the project aimed to address clinical protocols that were not integrated, up to date or standardized, and training gaps causing poor primary care performance.
METHODS:
The project utilized a mentorship model to build sustainable in-country capacity2. The KTU and MoH conducted over 30 virtual interpreted meetings, were in regular email correspondence and held an in-person meeting in Indonesia to prepare for the launch of the programme. The KTU facilitated deliberations amongst Indonesian clinicians, policymakers and professional body representatives to align the tool’s clinical recommendations with local disease burden, formularies, and policies. Concurrently, the teams localized and translated the case based training curriculum for the MoH’s online learning management system to focus on local health system priorities. High-level endorsement was achieved by positioning PACK as a key component of the national promotion/prevention/screening strategy.
RESULTS:
The collaboration produced a comprehensive 158-page, localised clinical decision support tool integrating management for 40 common symptoms and 24 chronic conditions in Bahasa Indonesian. The accompanying online course featured ten clinical cases covering TB and diabetes diagnosis and care, and urgent management of hypertension in pregnancy. The intervention has demonstrated scalability: Since 2024, 6179 (35%) of 17 656 primary health facilities across Indonesia have been trained. World Bank and MoH representatives have subsequently joined a research collaboration formed by KTU of countries implementing the PACK programme.
CONCLUSIONS:
This intervention demonstrates south-to-south collaboration and shared learning. Evaluation is planned to assess impact as well as to identify systemic effects to inform future scale-up in large lower-middle-income countries.
In 2022, the World Bank engaged the University of Cape Town’s Knowledge Translation Unit (KTU) to support the Indonesian Ministry of Health (MoH) to prepare PACK, a South African-developed health system intervention1 comprising a clinical decision support tool, training curriculum and implementation strategy. Supporting National Health Insurance (JKN) reforms, the project aimed to address clinical protocols that were not integrated, up to date or standardized, and training gaps causing poor primary care performance.
METHODS:
The project utilized a mentorship model to build sustainable in-country capacity2. The KTU and MoH conducted over 30 virtual interpreted meetings, were in regular email correspondence and held an in-person meeting in Indonesia to prepare for the launch of the programme. The KTU facilitated deliberations amongst Indonesian clinicians, policymakers and professional body representatives to align the tool’s clinical recommendations with local disease burden, formularies, and policies. Concurrently, the teams localized and translated the case based training curriculum for the MoH’s online learning management system to focus on local health system priorities. High-level endorsement was achieved by positioning PACK as a key component of the national promotion/prevention/screening strategy.
RESULTS:
The collaboration produced a comprehensive 158-page, localised clinical decision support tool integrating management for 40 common symptoms and 24 chronic conditions in Bahasa Indonesian. The accompanying online course featured ten clinical cases covering TB and diabetes diagnosis and care, and urgent management of hypertension in pregnancy. The intervention has demonstrated scalability: Since 2024, 6179 (35%) of 17 656 primary health facilities across Indonesia have been trained. World Bank and MoH representatives have subsequently joined a research collaboration formed by KTU of countries implementing the PACK programme.
CONCLUSIONS:
This intervention demonstrates south-to-south collaboration and shared learning. Evaluation is planned to assess impact as well as to identify systemic effects to inform future scale-up in large lower-middle-income countries.
| eISSN: | 2654-1459 |
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