Cairns hosts major health conference
THE ties between universities and public hospitals will be discussed at a major conference being hosted in Cairns tomorrow.
Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service chief executive Clare Douglas is a keynote speaker at the Australian Public Health Conference 2018 at the Pullman Cairns International hotel.
Ms Douglas will inform 300 delegates from across Australia and the Pacific region about the public health roles of academic health centres in tropical Australia.
CHHHS and James Cook University signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2015 to establish the Tropical Australia Academic Centre, a Mayo Clinic-style health science centre.
The centre is to help build the foundation for Cairns Hospital to become a tertiary institution, similar to those in Townsville and the Gold Coast, within the next decade. Public Health Association Australia chief executive of Terry Slevin said much of the three-day conference’s program was designed to reflect current issues in the Far North.
“Obviously the three biggest issues are climate, issues around Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and issues around disaster management,” he said.
Other topics include infectious diseases such as chickenpox, syphilis, legionella and Zika virus, immunisation, emergency department access, suicide prevention, smoking cessation, abortion law, and drowning prevention.
Former Defence Force chief Chris Barrie is also among the keynote speakers.
“We’ve got a broad range of topics being covered, all under the banner of public health, including locals giving keynote presentations about leadership in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health,” Mr Slevin said.
“We’re really looking forward to it.”
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