COVID-19 Response in the Pacific: A Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) deployee experience

Dr Peta-Anne Zimmerman RN BN MHSc(InfectionControl) GCertHEd SFHEA CICP-E1,2,3,4

1School of Nursing and Midwifery, Griffith University, Queensland
2Department of Infection Control, Gold Coast Hospital and Health Services, Queensland
3Collaborative for the Advancement of Infection Prevention and Control, Queensland
4Menzies Health Institute, Queensland

The Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) of the World Health Organization (WHO) is made up of over 250 partners made up of technical institutions and networks around the world that respond to acute public health events by deploying technical experts and resources to affected countries. The role of GOARN is to deliver rapid and effective support to prevent and control infectious disease outbreaks and public health emergencies when requested. The Australasian College for Infection Prevention and Control (ACIPC) is a GOARN partner. In January of 2020 GOARN issued a request for assistance to all partners for novel coronavirus outbreak response for the Western Pacific Region of the World Health Organization (WPRO) located in the Philippines. As a GOARN trained and previously deployed member of ACIPC I joined the Incident Management Team in Manila. This session will provide a narrative of the experience, how the COVID-19 response unfolded in the region, and the current situation.


Biography:

Dr Peta-Anne Zimmerman is an internationally respected clinician, educator, and researcher in infection prevention and control (IPC). Dr Zimmerman’s experience in IPC spans over 20 years and her domestic clinical experience, research, and expertise has led her to work extensively in China, South East Asia and the South Pacific, on outbreak response, the development of comprehensive infection prevention and control programmes, and on the integration of public health and acute care response in infectious disease emergencies, in low and middle income country settings.

Peta-Anne is the program adviser for the Graduate Infection Prevention and Control Programs at Griffith University, which includes the only named Master of Infection Prevention and Control in the region, and she is proud to be the Visiting Research Fellow with the Infection Control Department of the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service.

Peta-Anne holds the award of Credentialled Infection Control Professional – Expert. She is the convenor of the Australasian College for Infection Prevention and Control (ACIPC) LMI Special Interest Group, ACIPC representative and senior teaching faculty for the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) and member of the ACIPC Credentialling and Professional Practices (CAPS) Committee. Peta-Anne has also recently received the award of Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Date

Nov 08 2021
Expired!

Time

12:00 pm - 12:30 pm

Local Time

  • Timezone: America/New_York
  • Date: Nov 07 2021
  • Time: 8:00 pm - 8:30 pm