The Regional Emergency and Critical Care Systems Strengthening Initiative (RECSI) was able to support attendance of our Pacific colleagues at the two-day 2024 Global Emergency Care Conference, held in Melbourne, Australia from 9–10 September 2024. The Conference is an annual event hosted in collaboration by the Alfred Emergency Academic Centre and the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine to equip emergency care providers with the skills, resources and networks to become involved in the development of global emergency care, particularly in resource-limited settings.
This year’s event brought together colleagues from across the region to discuss how integrated Emergency, Critical and Operative Care (ECO) systems in the context of universal health coverage, health emergencies and the Indo-Pacific region can improve health outcomes, with a specific focus on WHA Resolution 76.2.
The importance of collaboration, partnerships and locally-led solutions were a recurring theme throughout the event. Speakers and panellists were made up of clinicians and stakeholders from anaesthetic, intensive care and surgical backgrounds, as well as a range of academic and technical organisations leading work throughout the Pacific region, including colleagues from the Pacific Community, the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) WHO Collaborating Centre Nursing, Midwifery and Health Development and the Pacific Society for Reproductive Health. Delegates also had a unique opportunity to directly contribute to consultations on the development of a global action plan for WHA Resolution 76.2.
Australia’s Ambassador for Global Health, Dr Lucas de Toca, closed out the conference by exploring what the resolution means for the diverse and complex context of acute care in the region, highlighting the unique challenges and opportunities of delivering emergency and critical care as well as the importance of collective advocacy across the region to ensure regional voices are represented at the global level. Dr de Toca spoke about Australia's continued role in supporting regional health security, stressing the importance of collaboration through initiatives like RECSI to drive meaningful change.
RECSI was able to support the attendance of Pacific colleagues both online and in-person including Dr Lavinesh Raj, Mamatuki Sosefo RN, and Dr Ilikini Naitini from Fiji, Dr Jacinta Ramo from the Solomon Islands, and Dr Elizabeth Inaido and Lao Erehe RN from Papua New Guinea. Ongoing participation from regional colleagues in the conference underscores the strength of ongoing networks and partnerships in the pursuit of improved delivery of acute care services.
For more information about this year’s event and future opportunities please visit: https://www.alfredemergency.org/
Images provided by Arjun Bhogal of the Alfred Emergency Academic Centre
Comments