Background There are very few healthcare services in NSW with the cultural safety or expertise needed for aftercare and recovery of burn injury for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. However, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS) are well placed to provide best practice, comprehensive and culturally safe care. Burn injuries can have long-term physical, emotional and social impacts on children and their families. For optimal recovery, burn injuries need to be treated with immediate first aid and appropriate ongoing care and aftercare to minimise initial injury and optimise long-term outcomes. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are admitted to hospitals with an acute burn injury at a rate three times greater than other Australian children1. Additionally, their length of stay in hospital is approximately 4 days longer compared to other Australian children. In partnership with ACCHS, the NSW Statewide Burn Injury Service and The Children's Hospital at Westmead,

Drowning is emerging as an important global health issue. In 2018, the World Health Organization reported 320,000 drowning deaths globally, with an estimated 90% of drownings occurring in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). 62,000 deaths, or almost one fifth of the burden, is in India. Children aged 1-9 are most at risk of drowning. Children in some coastal regions of India such as the Sundarbans in the northern state of West Bengal are at a high risk of drowning, due to poor infrastructure, rurality, presence of unregulated open water, lack of safety awareness and inadequate health systems. The World Health Organization has recommended four community-based interventions in rural LMIC settings to reduce drowning in young children. These interventions are: the installing barriers controlling access to water (such as playpens and fencing), the provision of safe spaces away from children with capable child care, teaching school-aged children basic swimming and rescue skills and training adult bystande

Background The Fiji Ministry of Health & Medical Services (MHMS) will be conducting its third round of the STEPS Survey in 2024.  The George Institute has been engaged to provide the MHMS with technical assistance in the implementation, data analysis and reporting of the survey, as part of Australia’s support to strengthening Fiji’s health sector. The consultancy will be led by Dr Bindu Patel and supported by a team of multidisciplinary experts: Professor Rohina Joshi (UNSW), Dr Anna Campain, Professor Jaime Miranda (USYD), Professor Laurent Billot and Sana Shan. Why the STEPS Survey?  Fiji is experiencing an alarming rising trend in deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs), particularly heart disease and diabetes, before the age of 70.1 According to World Health Organization data from 2017, Fiji is ranked 39 out of 183 countries in the world in fatalities from heart disease.2 The three leading causes of heart disease in Fiji are raised blood pressure, high blood sugar and

Background Pregnant women, particularly those in low- and middle-income countries, are among the most vulnerable populations to climate change. India has experienced a marked rise in the intensity, frequency, and duration of heatwaves over the last half-century, with 2022 and 2024 being the hottest years since 1901. Extreme heat exposure has been linked to several adverse pregnancy outcomes, including: Preterm birth Stillbirth Gestational diabetes Small for gestational age babies Preeclampsia However, the biological mechanisms linking environmental heat to these outcomes remain poorly understood. Aim The Heat in Pregnancy – India (HiP-India) project is a multi-partner coalition of researchers across India and the UK seeking to understand why exposure to extreme heat leads to adverse birth outcomes. This Wellcome Trust-awarded project is a collaborative effort between the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI),