Webinar 2 – Catch Up Vaccinations – Protecting Refugees and Asylum Seekers. (Children).

Monash Health Partnering with SEMPHN

Protecting refugees and asylum seeker communities from vaccination preventable conditions is important both for the individuals and the community. Assessing current vaccination needs and developing a catch-up vaccination plan can be challenging at times.

Our webinar series aims to address some of the challenges in developing catch-up immunisations.

We will cover:

• The process around assessing vaccination history,
• Planning catch up vaccinations
• Administering catch up vaccinations

Webinar 2 will focus on children and adolescents up to 20 years old.

The complexity of catch-up immunisations requires a process that covers overseas medical records review, catch-up plan development and also navigating the risk of patients not being on AIR (Australian Immunisation Register)

Presenters:

Dr Franziska Levin

Studied medicine in Germany and Italy

Prior to completing her GP training in the UK, Dr Levin gained several years
of experience in paediatrics. Since moving to Melbourne in 2018 she has worked in different areas of Melbourne, taught medical students and worked at several covid-19 related health projects. She currently works as a refugee health fellow at the Monash Refugee Health and Wellbeing clinic,as well as a GP in community health at Cohealth Collingwood and spends some evenings working in the virtual emergency department.

Another special interest has been developmental disability and chronic disease management. She developed her UK practice into a centre of excellence for patients with disability. For her efforts she was awarded with the UK GP trainee of the year in 2018.

Shegofa Hazara.

A Registered Nurse working as a Refugee Health Nurse with Monash Health Refugee Health and Wellbeing. Over the past 12 years at Monash Health, she has worked across a range of different nursing roles, including Practice Nurse, Nurse Liaison, Nurse Immuniser, and roles involving leadership of key portfolios such as Immunisation and Infectious Diseases.

As a Nurse Immuniser, she provides catch-up vaccination services for children and adults, supports access to preventative healthcare and protects vulnerable communities from vaccine-preventable diseases. A strong advocate for health equity and committed to reducing barriers to healthcare for refugees, asylum seekers, and culturally diverse populations.