12.30pm – 1.30pm (AEST) Monday 27th July via Zoom

Why midwives matter for maternal and newborn health in LMICs + Introducing STAGE: Professor Caroline Homer

Professor Caroline Homer is a midwife, health services researcher, educator and international development advisor. She is the Co-Program Director of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health at the Burnet Institute, Visiting Distinguished Professor of Midwifery at the University of Technology Sydney and an NHMRC Principal Research Fellow. She has recently been appointed by the WHO’s Director General as the Inaugural Chair, WHO’s Strategic and Technical Advisory Group of Experts (STAGE) for Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent Health, and Nutrition (2020-2022). She is a member of the Victorian Consultative Council on Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity (CCOPMM) and leads the newly established Victorian COVID-19 Perinatal Research Network.

The value of azithromycin during labour on infant and maternal outcomes; the Bulabula MaPei study: Dr Maeve Hume-Nixon

Dr Maeve Hume-Nixon is a medical doctor and researcher with a special interest in global health, focusing on women, children, and vulnerable populations. She has previously worked for an NGO in rural Kenya on a Maternal and Child Health programme, and until recently was living in Fiji coordinating a large clinical trial aiming to prevent infections in mothers and babies, whilst undertaking her PhD. She is aiming to undertake Public Health Physician Training this year.

COVID-19 Resources

Congratulations to Professor Fiona Russell who is a member of the WHO Research network on COVID-19 for MNCAH and the Living systematic review working group.

“Do No Harm: Perinatal, Newborn and Child Health during COVID-19” – IPA-UNICEF-WHO webinar, featuring Dr Hamish Graham, on 18 July. Subscribe to IPA’s Youtube channel to tune in.

Melbourne Children’s Global Health is a member of the COVID-19 Clinical Research Coalition. The Coalition aims to accelerate COVID-19 research in low- and middle-income countries.

Delegates attending Lives in the Balance: A COVID-19 Summit, hosted by PMNCH and CORE Group, called on global leaders to commit to a seven-point policy plan for improving and increasing investment in health systems and social protection policies for women, children and adolescents.

The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health have issued a ‘Call to Action on Covid-19′

The Coalition of Centres in Global Child Health presents a webinar entitled ‘Childhood Vaccinations in Low- and Middle-Income Countries During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic’.

‘COVID-19: What can Malaysia and Kerala, India teach the rest of the world?’ Register to attend this online seminar hosted by the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative via Zoom on 21 July.

COVID-19 kids research evidence update The University of Melbourne

Applying humanitarian standards to the global COVID-19 response (webinar series). Between June and September 2020, Sphere will host a series of webinars to share good practice and technical guidance on humanitarian standards in the COVID-19 response. The series includes seven multi-language and globally-interconnected webinars on humanitarian standards and their application to the COVID-19 response.

‘No safe space: crisis response in Covid-19’ Webinar series by ACFID, the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership (CHL), and the Humanitarian Advisory Group (HAG).

‘Dealing with a Double Disaster: What happens when disaster strikes during a pandemic?’ – The COVID-19 pandemic poses enormous challenges for countries and communities across the globe. But what happens when a disaster strikes during the pandemic, at a time when significant resources and attention are focussed on the COVID-19 response? A virtual forum hosted by the Center for Humanitarian Leadership on 21 July. Register and find more information here.

Pacific Islands Health Research Symposium 2020

Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic and the social distancing restrictions, PIHRS 2020 will now be a fully virtual conference. The dates have also changed – the new dates are now 25-27 November, 2020.

The theme will be “Health Security in the Pacific: Lessons from the Pandemic Experience”, to reflect the gravity of the COVID-19 pandemic globally, and how it has affected people, their health, and particularly health systems. It is intended that this conference will attract researchers, academics, policy makers, practitioners and anyone who has interest in sharing lessons learnt during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Please see here for further registration and abstract submission information.