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Global Health Committee

About the GHC

The NZSA supports outreach projects through its Global Health Committee (GHC), the Lifebox Project and the Hugh Spencer Education Fund. The GHC is involved in activities and projects to support anaesthesia, including training, in the Pacific. The breadth of the GHC’s work and how you can get involved is outlined in an article published in NZSA’s magazine.

The GHC launched a new initiative in 2020 called PACT (Pacific Anaesthesia Collaborative Training) to help raise funds to support training of anaesthetists in the Pacific. This has had great uptake, and we appreciate all donations made to support PACT.

More about PACT

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GHC Members

James-Dalby Ball (Chair)

Alan Goodey

Wayne Morriss

Indu Kapoor

Petra Linden-Ross

Ted Hughes

Caroline Zhou

Laura Davis

Matt Jenks

Michael Kalkoff

Charlotte Legge

Atif Slim

Contact the GHC

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2030 Goals for Global Surgery and Anaesthesia

Dr Alan Goodey, member of the NZSA GHC, has written a comprehensive article about the Lancet Commission’s ambitious goals for 2030, which include a minimum of 80% coverage of essential surgical and anaesthesia services per country. A second indicator which is more easily measured but still extremely challenging is 100% of countries having a minimum of 20 SAO (specialist surgeons, specialist obstetricians and specialist anaesthetists/anaesthesiologists) per 100,000 population. Read more on how the NZSA and its members can help to achieve these goals.

Read more

Lifebox

Lifebox is a WFSA project which distributes pulse oximeters to developing countries (a non-invasive medical device that checks the level of oxygen in a patient’s bloodstream and sounds an alarm as soon as it detects the slightest unsafe change). Pulse oximeters have been described as the most important monitoring tool in modern anaesthesia practice.

Lifebox ANZ

The NZSA has supported Lifebox over many years as part of its overseas aid work. The Australasian Lifebox Committee is made up of ANZCA, ASA, NZSA and Interplast – funds are allocated to regions around the world. Dr Caroline Zhou, a member of the GHC, represents the NZSA on this committee.

Visit Lifebox ANZ 

Pacific Collaboration

The NZSA has a strong and long-standing commitment to supporting overseas anaesthetists in developing countries. Our focus is the Pacific: providing education and training, financial assistance, and resources. We also provide locums to cover lists, which enable Pacific anaesthetists to attend international meetings and refresher courses, as well as take a break when needed. Several NZ anaesthetists have experience working in the Pacific, and further afield, and find it very rewarding.

Volunteer in the Pacific

The GHC is looking for one more volunteer to locum in Kiribati during the 2024 Pacific Society of Anaesthetists Annual Meeting. This has been a late request, and we would like to help them so they too can attend the PSA meeting. Volunteers must be able to cover from Sunday 25th until Saturday 31st of August plus 1-2 days for travel. The 2024 PSA meeting will be held Monday 26 –  Friday 30 August.

If you can help, please express your interest online here.

All other Pacific centres that have requested help have locums arranged for 2024. Thank you to all who expressed an interest.

The GHC coordinates volunteer locum cover during the PSA annual meeting to allow Pacific SMOs to attend what is often their only opportunity for CME and interact with colleagues from other Pacific nations. Volunteers’ experiences are greatly varied and often well enjoyed.

Pacific Society of Anaesthetists Annual Meeting

26 – 30 August 2024, Fiji
Visit our events page for more on attending the 2024 PSA Annual Meeting.

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Trainee opportunities

Global Health Committee Trainee Grant

The NZSA GHC offers an annual trainee grant to New Zealand anaesthetic trainees who are members of the NZSA. The grant (NZ $1,000) goes towards paying the costs of attending the Pacific Society of Anaesthetist’s Annual Conference.

The grant provides NZ trainees with an opportunity to gain perspectives on anaesthesia services in the Pacific, to network with anaesthesia colleagues in the region and to assist with the PSA meeting, if required. The selected trainee is required to provide a short report for publication in the NZSA magazine relaying their experiences of attending the meeting. You can read the 2023 report here.

NZSA trainee membership is free and interested trainees who are not members of the NZSA can join at the time of applying for this grant.

Applications for the grant to attend the 2024 meeting are now closed.

Global Health Committee Trainee Representative

The GHC is seeking a new trainee rep to commence mid-2025. GHC trainee representatives promote the work of PACT and have close links with Pacific trainee colleagues. If you’re interested in taking up this position on the committee, contact Dr James Dalby-Ball for more.

Find out more

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Hugh Spencer Education Fund

The Spencer Family Trust developed the fund to be used for education opportunities in the Pacific and is overseen by the NZSA Global Health Committee. Hugh Spencer was a highly respected anaesthetist who was a Life Member of the NZSA, the former head of the Waikato Department, and a Life Member of the PSA. He also received an ANZCA citation for valiant service and the NZ Order of Merit for services to medicine in 2010.

If you wish to donate, please send funds directly to the Hugh Spencer Fund bank account: 02-0168-0240227-007. Please include your name and details to help us identify the payee. Members making donations can claim certain tax deductions.

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PACT Donations

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