Latest Posts

The Neglected Tropical Disease global movement, and the public health case for scabies control

“The opposite of love is not hate, but indifference” (Elie Wiesel). Neglected tropical diseases (“NTDs”) are a group of diverse infectious diseases that afflict the poorest of the poor, and efforts to curb their effects have been hampered by indifference. The NTDs are frequently chronic and debilitating diseases, and contribute to an ongoing cycle of poverty through their negative effects on human health, their economic impact on families and through stigmatisation

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Infant Mental Health – From recognition to community intervention

This presentation will recount the early history of recognizing infant suffering and potentials, the struggles for acceptance of the concepts in psychiatry and paediatrics, as well as a look at the science of this field in the current era, along with emerging strategies for guiding community applications of research.

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Down syndrome: What the paediatrician needs to know

Health care recommendations for children with Down syndrome have undergone several significant changes in recent years and it is important for providers to be aware of the current guidelines. Patient examples illustrating some of the critical issues will be used in the presentation and time for general questions will be provided

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Child Psychiatry: To the evidence and beyond

Whilst it is often assumed that there is little in the way of evidence to guide practice in child psychiatry the truth is somewhat more complex. Our evidence base has in fact developed considerably over the last 20 years and whilst there are still many gaps in our understanding it is now possible to practice evidence based healthcare for many developmental mental health problems that affect both children and adolescents.

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From Syria to Safed: Treatment of Syrian war victims in Israel

In March 2011 the civil war in Syria broke out. To date, there have been over 250,000 deaths and over half the country has been internally or externally displaced. Since Feb 2013 over 2000 severely wounded Syrians have crossed the border into Israel. Most of the children have come to Ziv Hospital in Tzfat in Israel’s far north, where Michael Harari works as a paediatrician. They have posed unique medical, social, emotional and political challenges. Michael will talk of his experience in dealing with these issues, and some of the medical lessons learnt along the way.

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50 Years of Newborn Screening

Newborn screening is one of the most successful public health programs in Australia. Every year, Victoria’s newborn screening program prevents serious childhood disability or death in about 80 Victorian children. The program is run on behalf of the Victorian government by Victorian Clinical Genetics Services in the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute. 2016 marks the 50th anniversary of the program and today’s Grand Round is part of a one day symposium celebrating the history and achievements of the program. A panel of speakers will reflect on what newborn screening has meant for them, how Victoria’s program developed and is currently run and what the future may hold.

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Priorities and challenges in global child health in the era of the Sustainable Development Goals

While there was tremendous improvement in global child health during the Millennium Development Goal era, huge gaps remain in access to healthcare, nutrition and sanitation etc. A number of lessons from the MDGs and key demographic and epidemiologic trends in the last decade have increased our understanding of the role of health in development and the priorities in global child health. Priorities in health and development were recently articulated in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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Immunotherapy for refractory leukaemia brings a new chance of cure and complex ethical issues

Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is the most common malignancy in children. Although 5 years event-free survival rates reach 90%, some children still succumb to the disease and others achieve cure with significant late effects. Improving on this will require alternative treatments. This Grand Round will describe new options for refractory disease, and discuss some of the ethical aspects of embarking on these new treatment options.

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Early life origins of adult lung disease – a new paradigm of lung growth

Our understanding of lung growth through childhood and adolescence and the impact of disease has changed in recent years. New measurement techniques have shown alveolarisation to continue through adolescence. A number of longitudinal studies within the Campus have provided invaluable information on the outcome of childhood asthma into the adult years which, when combined with the outcome studies of extreme prematurity provide new insight into lung growth. Care of the growing lung is important to ensure optimal lung growth through childhood and adolescence to prevent early onset of lung disease in adulthood.

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