This is a reshare of the Medical Women’s International Association (MWIA) December 2022 newsletter. AFMW is affiliated with Medical Women’s International Association, an association of medical women and students representing women doctors from all six continents and eight regions.
MWIA December 2022
Greetings from the desk of the President and Happy New Year! What a truly busy and exciting last quarter we have had!
Exco meetings were held on 30th October and December 18th with Exco members taking key decisions on behalf of MWIA as outlined in this President’s report.
Committees have been launched and some Committees and Special Interest Groups (SIGs) have had their inaugural meetings in which I was able to participate. I am immensely grateful to you our dedicated MWIA members for offering to serve.
The first draft MWIA Strategic plan in alignment with the triennial theme One Humanity: Health Solutions through our Partnerships, and a budget have been drafted. I invite members to adapt the plan in order for it to be relevant in their different contexts.
Soon after attending the World Health Summit in Berlin, I travelled to Frankfurt and met with members of the German Medical Women’s Association on 19th October It was a beautiful reunion and the idea was born to start the Senior MWIA SIG.
I went on to Geneva and attended a conference on Cancer on 20th October.
Being in Geneva was also a great opportunity to meet with MWIA lawyers, Borel and Barbey and to deliver in person relevant documents for MWIA registration on 21st October. I am glad to report that we have made significant progress with the Swiss registration thanks to the collective effort of Exco members.
I met with the Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala and members of her team. This resulted in MWIA securing a slot on the WTO. I also met with officers of WHO and have subsequently attended virtual follow-up meetings. The MWIA Secretary General and I participated in the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) meetings to draft and negotiate a WHO convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
It was an honour for me to facilitate a diplomatic event on a new global norm to end violence against women and girls, hosted by the Permanent Missions of Costa Rica and the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva on 28th October
I am humbled to have been appointed Co – chair of the Immunization Agenda (IA) 2030 Partnership Council comprising members from WHO, UNICEF, GAVI, US CDC and the Gates Foundation.
Sincerely,
Dr. Eleanor Nwadinobi
MWIA President
Read the full MWIA December 2022 Newsletter here
Associate Professor Magdalena Simonis AM is the Immediate Past President of the AFMW (2020-2023), former President of VMWS (2013 & 2017-2020) and current AFMW National Coordinator (2024-2026). She is a full time clinician who also holds positions on several not for profit organisations, driven by her passion for bridging gaps across the health sector. She is a leading women’s health expert, keynote speaker, climate change and gender equity advocate and government advisor.
Magdalena was awarded a lifetime membership of the RACGP for her contributions which include past chair of Women in General Practice, longstanding contribution to the RACGP Expert Committee Quality Care, the RACGP eHealth Expert Committee. She is regularly invited to comment on primary care research though mainstream and medical media and contributes articles on various health issues through newsGP and other publications.
Magdalena has represented the RACGP at senate enquiries and has worked on several National Health Framework reviews. She is author of the RACGP Guide on Female Genital Cosmetic Surgery and co-reviewer of the RACGP Red Book Women’s Health Chapter, and reviewer of the RACGP White book
Both an RACGP examiner and University examiner, she undertakes general practice research and is a GP Educator with the Safer Families Centre of Research Excellence, which develops education tools to assist the primary care sector identify, respond to and manage family violence . Roles outside of RACGP include the Strategy and Policy Committee for Breast Cancer Network Australia, Board Director of the Melbourne University Teaching Health Clinics and the elected GP representative to the AMA Federal Council. In 2022. she was award the AMA (Vic) Patrick Pritzwald-Steggman Award 2022, which celebrates a doctor who has made an exceptional contribution to the wellbeing of their colleagues and the community and was listed as Women’s Agenda 2022 finalist for Emerging Leader in Health.
Magdalena has presented at the United Nations as part of the Australian Assembly and was appointed the Australian representative to the World Health Organisation, World Assembly on COVID 19, by the Medical Women’s International Association (MWIA) in 2021. In 2023, A/Professor Simonis was included on the King’s COVID-19 Champion’s list and was also awarded a Member (AM) in the General Division for significant service to medicine through a range of roles and to women’s health.
