Dear friends,
Springtime brings renewal and our thoughts are with our colleagues suffering hardship.
I bring two items of good news to share with you.
Firstly Iryna Tuchkina, Head of the National Society and based in Kharkiv is alive and well. You may remember we featured their Unit’s training programme before the start of the war on a news update on our website. I am told that Ira managed to travel to Germany and we wish her every strength to cope with the trauma that she, her family and her colleagues have had to endure. As an organisation we abhor violence especially when directed toward women and children. We also are saddened and horrified by wanton destruction, especially that of medical facilities. Shame on the perpetrators of such horrors, for these actions are unpardonable. We hope that the PAG family will unite to support those who suffer.
Some of you may remember the campaign instigated by FIGIJ called ImaGYNations which promoted single dose HPV vaccination as a mechanism to consolidate vaccination of large populations in resource poor countries. This was a concept very close to my own heart and that of Mireille Merckx from Belgium. After much lobbying I am delighted to share with you that finally on 11 April the WHO issued a press release advocating single-dose HPV vaccination as offering solid protection against cervical cancer. FIGIJ had approached and lobbied the WHO some time ago and we have been waiting for this pronouncement for what seems an awfully long time. The new WHO dose schedule is one or two doses for the primary age target of girls aged 9-14, one or two doses for young women aged 15-20 and two doses with a six-month interval for women older than 21 years. Hopefully recruitment of boys will follow…… All in all a cause for celebration!
Please, please, please donate to our Bursaries – I am delighted that we have now two funded bursaries and we are looking to recruit successful applicants on an annual basis. Details are available on the website along with information on the project. Do try and help those less fortunate and improve the profile of PAG where it is sorely needed.
New material keeps being added to the website and you will miss it if you don’t log on. Watch out for the new training videos on bleeding disorders, and our Statement on Eating Disorders. Two more on Adolescent Pregnancy and LARC access are in the pipeline.
FIGIJ has continued to be active on the international stage most recently participating in the Chinese Branch of FGIJ Congress on female genital tract malformations with over 6000 (yes six thousand) participants. Grateful thanks for our speakers who gave up their time and energy to make the session such a success. Do diarise the next WCPAG in Belgrade – Zoran, his team and the Board are looking to
present a new vibrant programme with suggestions for change!
Keep well, keep safe and be kind,
Paul