Dr John Gerrard, Queensland’s Chief Health Officer joins APP2022 speaker line up

The Pharmacy Guild of Australia is thrilled to announce today that Queensland’s Chief Health Officer (CHO), Dr. John Gerrard, will join the growing list of experts addressing delegates at this year’s Australian Pharmacy Professional Conference and Trade Exhibition (APP).

APP2022, being held in just four weeks, on 24-27 March 2022 on the Gold Coast, is an annual event that brings together community pharmacy professionals from across Australia.

APP022 Conference Convenor Kos Sclavos AM said Dr. Gerrard’s presentation, scheduled at 4pm on Friday 25 March, is entitled ‘Mobilising a nation: COVID-19 vaccination program – the role of pharmacy & where to from here?’ and will be yet another in a long list of sessions that attendees will not want to miss.

The session will also feature Managing Director of Pfizer Australia and New Zealand, Anne Harris, Medical Director Australia & NZ (Asia Pacific) of Moderna Australia, Lynn Sartori and Guild National President, Prof Trent Twomey.

“Dr. Gerrard’s attendance at APP is a shot in the arm for those pharmacists wanting to hear from one of Queensland’s most respected medical experts,” said Mr Sclavos.

“This session will provide a retrospective examination of the role of pharmacists, and the lessons learnt. An update on vaccine boosters will also be provided.”

“Dr. Gerrard started as Queensland’s CHO in December, just as the Omicron outbreak was taking off,” said Mr. Sclavos.
“He has a long-established track record in public health. Taking the learnings from the SARS outbreak in 2003, Dr Gerrard helped design the new Gold Coast University Hospital with the capacity to manage a pandemic such as COVID-19 safely.

“In 2014, he travelled to Sierra Leone during the Ebola epidemic. He formed part of a team that established Australia’s first Ebola Treatment Centre outside Freetown. Subsequently, he was awarded the Australian Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal.

“Most recently, Dr. Gerrard managed Queensland’s first cases of COVID-19 when three families travelled from Wuhan, China, in January 2020. Shortly after, he travelled to Tokyo as part of a mission to assist Japanese authorities in containing the outbreak of COVID-19 aboard the Diamond Princess.”

Underlining the central role community pharmacy plays, Mr. Sclavos said APP2022 would hear from several health leaders.

“Not only do we have Dr. Gerrard joining us, but we’ve also recently announced Minister for Health and Aged Care Hon Greg Hunt MP and his counterpart, Hon Mark Butler MP, Federal Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care, will also be addressing APP2022 during the morning session of Thursday, 24 March.”

With only four weeks to go until APP2022, Mr. Sclavos also reminded potential attendees that the 100% COVID Refund Guarantee introduced for APP2021 would also continue to be on offer for the 2022 event, providing peace of mind for delegates.

“If attendees can’t travel to APP2022 due to COVID-19 restrictions, they will be entitled to a full refund,” said Mr. Sclavos.

Book with confidence – register for APP2022 today at appconference.com.