Australian Global Health Alliance

Today on World Polio Day, we reflect on the incredible progress the world has made in eliminating one of history’s most devastating childhood diseases — and the urgent work that remains. With only around half of all children fully vaccinated in Papua New Guinea, low immunisation coverage has left communities vulnerable. Dr Fredrick Junior Charles, Burnet country director in PNG, spoke to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)'s Pacific Beat program about the challenges on the ground: “In communities with low vaccination coverage, the weakened virus used in vaccines can circulate and mutate, regaining the ability to cause paralysis. It’s rare, but dangerous. That’s why high vaccination coverage is critical right now,” he said. Burnet is working alongside the PNG Government and partners to: 💉 support the national immunisation campaign 💉 train health workers and strengthen cold chain systems 💉 identify and reach unvaccinated children through the zero-dose project 💉 mobilise communities to raise awareness about vaccination. Together, we can ensure every child, everywhere, is protected from polio 💪 For more, listen here: https://lnkd.in/gWMNs2Zs

🌟 Please join us *tomorrow* Oct 21 at 14.00 UK time for an online Launch Event discussing findings from The BMJ Collection on #womenshealth #innovation featuring these spectacular speakers: Ru-fong Joanne Cheng, MD, FACOG Gates Foundation Dr Ebere Okereke Jane Hirst Tiffany Nassiri-Ansari Nina Linder Bola Grace, PhD, MBA Carmel Shachar Sylvia Kiwuwa-Muyingo Awa Naghipour 🌀 REGISTER: https://lnkd.in/eSTacZJc

The UN at 80 Conference kicks off tomorrow in Sydney. Alliance Executive Director, Selina Namchee Lo will be joined onstage alongside Esperanza Martinez at 1.30pm to discuss "Health without borders: Diplomacy, Policy and the Future of Global Wellbeing". The conference agenda includes a Ministerial address from Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and further conference discussions covering human rights, peace-building, the role of the university sector, mis- and disinformation, sustainability, conflict and leadership. We are delighted to be invited to reflect on the past 80 years of the United Nations and the path ahead for health and wellbeing. Prof Brendan Crabb AC Helen Evans AO Jane Fisher Matt Ralston Abbie Minter https://lnkd.in/gc-6aibM

🔥 Launching today: 🔥 With Asia and the Pacific on the front lines of the climate crisis, the World Health Organization unveils an ambitious blueprint for action on climate and health. https://lnkd.in/g48WH_WA

Don't miss the the inaugural World Cervical Cancer Elimination Day, as declared by WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, for ECC2025, hosted by the NHMRC Centre for Excellence in Cervical Cancer Control (C4). This year’s theme, “Working towards Elimination: Success, Innovation and Challenges in Implementation,” will spotlight regional successes, challenges, and C4-funded research driving equitable, impactful change. 🗓️ Monday 17 November 2025 | 12–3pm AEDT 💻 Free virtual event on Zoom The University of Sydney Business School, UNSW, Australian Centre for the Prevention of Cervical Cancer, University of Melbourne, The Australian National University 🎟️ Register now: https://lnkd.in/gSVguDmJ

📢 Congratulations to #Fiji 🇫🇯 on eliminating trachoma as a public health problem. 👏   Trachoma is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) that causes visual impairment and blindness, with the latter being difficult to reverse. Globally trachoma is the leading infectious cause of blindness, which is caused by a bacterium called Chlamydia trachomatis. Trachoma spreads through personal contact, interactions with contaminated surfaces and on flies that have been in contact with eye or nose discharge of an infected person. Repeated infections can lead to scarring, in-turning of the eyelids, and ultimately blindness.   Quick stats: 🔹Fiji is the third country in the Pacific to eliminate trachoma, joining Papua New Guinea (May 2025) and Vanuatu (August 2022). 🔹Fiji is the 26th country to eliminate trachoma globally. 🔹Trachoma is the first #NTD to be eliminated in Fiji.   Since 2012, Fiji has undertaken a series of robust, internationally supported surveys and studies, including population-based prevalence surveys and laboratory testing, to understand how trachoma was spreading and affecting people in Fiji, and how to distinguish it from other causes of eye disease. This sustained effort, integrated with school health, water and sanitation initiatives, and community awareness programmes, has led to this milestone of elimination today. To sustain these elimination efforts, Fiji also has systems in place to identify and manage any future cases.   WHO continues to support countries in their efforts to eliminate trachoma and other NTDs, ensuring healthier lives for all, particularly the most at-risk and vulnerable. We thank the Government of Japan and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) for supporting the trachoma programme.   Read the full press release: https://lnkd.in/e7sDfxFA   World Health Organization Western Pacific Region World Health Organization

📢 Join Save the Children Australia for the launch of their report: Climate Change and Nutritional Vulnerability: Insights from PNG, Solomon Islands & Vanuatu. Hear how climate change is impacting women & children across health, food, and WASH systems — and the need for integrated policy solutions. 🗓️ Thursday 16 Oct | 12:00–1:00 PM (Sydney/GMT+11) 💻 Register here: https://lnkd.in/g86GWZsn

Nossal Institute's Rachel Coghlan is a palliative care clinician, who worked with doctors in Gaza before October 7, 2023.   In this podcast for #7am, she shares what’s left of Gaza’s hospitals, and the daily toll for doctors as they try to keep them going. The episode offers a deeply human perspective on the crisis, highlighting the courage & resilience of frontline medical workers.   Listen now https://lnkd.in/gaks_z_X   Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences Nossal Institute for Global Health, University of Melbourne Australian Global Health Alliance

𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆? In this Expert's Voice feature, Professor Seye Abimbola, a health systems researcher and former founding editor-in-chief of BMJ Global Health, joins us as he addresses the urgent need to dismantle extractive knowledge practices in global health research. Abimbola argues that academic global health carries stubborn legacies of colonialism, racism, and elitism that keep researchers busy while having minimal impact on equity. The field's fundamental problem isn't lack of information but whose knowledge we value and whose we dismiss. He challenges the "foreign gaze" that looks at communities from outside positions of assumed authority, extracting data while ignoring local expertise. The transformation he advocates is radical yet simple. Treat research participants as knowers and knowledge producers, not just subjects to study. This requires completely reversing current norms by making research transparent, democratized, and designed to transform unjust systems rather than perpetuate them. 𝗔𝗯𝗶𝗺𝗯𝗼𝗹𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝘀 "𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱, 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆, 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝘃𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁. Read the full conversation to discover how shifting even slightly how we see reality can change the world. Link below! https://lnkd.in/dxeZG943 Nigeria Health Watch EUPHA - European Public Health Association IOSHM (Institution of Occupational Safety & Health Management) American Public Health Association Society for Social Medicine & Population Health Students for Global Health International Society of Global Health Doctors for Global Health IFMSA | International Federation of Medical Students' Associations Public Health Insight Global Health Council Social Epidemiology Lab Women in Global Health Pan African Medical Journal Luchuo Engelbert Bain