So grateful for the opportunity to present at the Aotearoa New Zealand Immunisation Conference 2023 on the social and behavioural drivers of HPV vaccine uptake in Tonga.
Such an inspiring and thought-provoking conference with the Aotearoa New Zealand Immunisation Advisory Centre. It was a privilege to attend and hear about the wonderful mahi being done.
There is no safe space in Gaza.
“Helpless people are being subjected to horrific bombing. Families have nowhere to run or to hide.
Water, food, fuel, medical supplies, and humanitarian aid in Gaza need to be urgently restored." https://t.co/TIvnh3J4pN
As November 17, the @WHO's Cervical Cancer Elimination Day of Action, draws near, we find inspiration in the words of Dr. @NOIweala, Director-General @wto: https://t.co/4geOyn04Mz
Take action by printing and sharing the #GlobalHPVConsortium fact sheet: https://t.co/97uZjkm5Ri
A humble plea for ceasefire and peace.
As a child trapped in the shadows of war, I intimately knew its smell, sounds and sights.
I empathize deeply with those now caught in the middle of conflict, feeling their pain as if it were my own.
War brings only devastation, horror, and destruction. Nothing else.
In this critical moment, let us rise above the divisions and embrace the path of peace.
The truest display of courage lies in choosing peace.
I call on world leaders to unite and lead the world towards peace.
Choose peace.
Evacuation orders by Israel to hospitals in northern Gaza are a death sentence for the sick and injured
As the @UN's agency responsible for public health, the World Health Organization (WHO) strongly condemns Israel's repeated orders for the evacuation of 22 hospitals treating more than 2000 inpatients in northern Gaza. The forced evacuation of patients and health workers will further worsen the current humanitarian and public health catastrophe.
The lives of many critically ill and fragile patients hang in the balance: those in intensive care or who rely on life support; patients undergoing hemodialysis; newborns in incubators; women with complications of pregnancy, and others all face imminent deterioration of their condition or death if they are forced to move and are cut off from life-saving medical attention while being evacuated.
Health facilities in northern Gaza continue to receive an influx of injured patients and are struggling to operate beyond maximum capacity. Some patients are being treated in corridors and outdoors in surrounding streets due to a lack of hospital beds.
Forcing more than 2000 patients to relocate to southern Gaza, where health facilities are already running at maximum capacity and unable to absorb a dramatic rise in the number patients, could be tantamount to a death sentence.
Hospital directors and health workers are now facing an agonizing choice: abandon critically ill patients amid a bombing campaign, put their own lives at risk while remaining on site to treat patients, or endanger their patients’ lives while attempting to transport them to facilities that have no capacity to receive them.
Overwhelmingly, caregivers have chosen to stay behind and honor their oaths as health professionals to “do no harm,” rather than risk moving their critically ill patients during evacuations. Health workers should never have to make such impossible choices.
Additionally, tens of thousands of displaced people in northern Gaza are seeking refuge in open spaces in or around hospitals, treating them as havens from violence as well as to protect the facilities from potential attacks. Their lives, too, are at risk when health facilities are bombed.
There are verified reports of deaths of health care workers and destruction of health facilities, which denies civilians the basic human right of life-saving health care and is prohibited under International Humanitarian Law.
WHO calls for Israel to immediately reverse evacuation orders to hospitals in northern Gaza, and calls for the protection of health facilities, health workers, patients, and civilians.
WHO also reiterates its calls for the immediate and safe delivery of medical supplies, fuel, clean water, food, and other humanitarian aid into Gaza through the Rafah crossing, where life-saving assistance, including WHO health supplies that arrived earlier today, is currently awaiting entry.
We’re losing health workers at an alarming rate due to unfair pay, poor conditions, lack of respect and overworking.
By 2030, the world will have a shortage of 10 million #HealthWorkers.
Now’s our time to support the people who keep us alive and safe — before it’s too late.
Very proud of my team & PhD students on presenting their work to understand the social & behavioral drivers of vaccine uptake and the role of multi-component interventions in LMICs and vaccine champions at #CDIC2023 @_PHAA_ @MCRI_for_kids @UNICEF 👇
Kiya Shipley speaks about their incredible work adapting the SKAI resource for providers to engage with First Nations families - available on the @NCIRS website
A great week of training and data collection with the Tupou Tertiary Institute and MOH, exploring social and behavioural drivers of HPV vaccination in Tonga. Such an excellent team. Malo ‘aupito! @MCRI_for_kids
I'm grateful for this opportunity from @_PHAA_ to attend and present my research at the Communicable Diseases & Immunisation Conference next month.
Congrats to Ms Mohamed & Mr @DarrenS_Ong, who received @_PHAA_ scholarships to progress their research into #infectiousdiseases & #immunisation. They will use these #scholarships to present their #research to experts at the Communicable Diseases & Immunisation Conference in June.
Let’s catch up!
In 2021, around the world:
❌ 25 million children missed at least 1 essential vaccine
❌ 18 million children received no vaccines at all
Now is the time for ‘The Big Catch-up’ to get vaccinations back on track.
#VaccinesWork
The #HPV vaccine is highly effective. It can prevent cases of the most high-risk strains of HPV – the #1 cause of #CervicalCancer.
Vaccinations are a key part of the Western Pacific Region’s cervical cancer prevention strategy: https://t.co/EuFfYNRVor