The WHO Office on Quality of Care and Patient Safety in Athens, Greece, introduced the new WHO/Europe app for primary health care for children and adolescents on 29 April.
The app, tailored to health professionals responsible for tending to children and young people in primary health-care settings, presents digitalized guidelines based on the successful “Pocket book of primary health care for children and adolescents”. It aims to improve quality of care for every child and adolescent across the WHO European Region.
A new tool for primary health-care workers
Primary health care is an inclusive, effective and efficient approach to promoting the physical and mental health of everyone in a community, including children and adolescents. However, the care that children and adolescents receive at the primary level is not always optimal. Some health-care providers may lack necessary training or resources to provide care that is of high quality and in the best interests of the child or adolescent.
This app, developed in response to requests from countries in the Region and as part of efforts to ensure quality of care for children and adolescents, aims to bridge this gap. Intuitive, user-friendly and accessible, it can even be used offline once installed. It includes tools for improving diagnosis and management of common diseases during childhood and adolescence, limiting medication errors, and reducing unnecessary use of antibiotics.
Download The App
Designed for use by doctors, nurses and other health professionals responsible for primary care in the Region, the app will be available in both Apple and Google stores during the launch event and can be downloaded for free.
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. Magda is member of The Australian Health Team contributing monthly articles.
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.
