Taking off in 2024

Many barriers to health equity are daunting to overcome but TPA proves that access to subspecialist expertise in paediatrics does not need to be one of them.
January to March 2024 saw TPA conduct 64 telehealth meetings between Australian health professionals and colleagues in ten of our neighbouring Asia-Pacific countries. This makes a total of 800 hours of Zoom connection since beginning in May 2020. The sessions bring together an ever expanding community of medical sub-specialists, nurses and allied health experts. Some meetings cover one or more patient cases, some are targeted topic reviews on request. All focus on uniting local experience with the right clinical advice for the best outcome for sick kids.
We are continually humbled and inspired by our overseas colleagues and what they are achieving. An example of significant impact comes from the Solomon Islands where the paediatric team at the National Referral Hospital are transforming outcomes for children with cancer. Under the guidance of paediatric oncologist Dr Luciano Dalla-Pozza we are pleased to say there are now three children who have been successfully treated for kidney cancer.
Just a few highlights from the year so far
A child with post-tuberculosis bronchiectasis identified as a candidate for possible lung surgery and support for transfer to Australia to facilitate this is being explored. Helpful learning came from a difficult case of dengue shock complicated by myocarditis. The successful procuration of Zoledronate for a child with osteogenesis imperfecta. Brain-storming about how to approach advocating for newborn screening in the Solomon Islands.
TPA currently covers sixteen different specialties including emergency medicine, intensive care, cardiology, neurology, NICU, haematology, respiratory, gastroenterology, endocrinology, developmental paediatrics, infectious diseases, immunology, renal, rheumatology, genetics and child protection. Not to mention dentistry, physiotherapy, and nursing sessions covering anything from stoma care to inotropes to leadership.
Australian volunteers continue to benefit from exposure to pathology rarely seen in Australia and to the challenges of problem-solving and adapting their clinical reasoning to resource limited settings.
The TPA journal club has covered fascinating topics so far including the malaria vaccine, nebulised hypertonic saline in bronchiolitis and the novel RSV vaccine in pregnancy.