Public Health Registars
AMSANT’s Public Health Registrar, Dr Bili Wu, brings clinical expertise, research skills and wide experience to the organisation, and provides our member services with the latest and most relevant information about the many health issues that challenge Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory.
This allows clinical staff at health centres (those at the front-line of care) more time to treat patients effectively and appropriately, armed with the latest clinical developments.
Dr Bili also supports AMSANT in our COVID-19 campaigns by analysing information, gathering evidence and reviewing medical literature to best inform healthcare workers throughout the community controlled sector, and beyond.
There’s a lot of conflicting and confusing data out there (about COVID-19, vaccinations and treatments) so the Public Health Registrar’s work greatly improves the power and relevance of the information briefs that AMSANT give to healthcare workers.
The Registrar also contributes to clinical system development within the sector and across the Aboriginal Primary Health Care (PHC) system in the NT, and contributes to public health policy and advocacy work as a member of the Public Health Advisory Group.
Dr Bili is undertaking a project focused on how the COVID 19 pandemic affected rheumatic heart disease prophylaxis. Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is a sequela of acute rheumatic fever (ARF), which causes significant mortality and morbidity amongst Aboriginal populations. Intramuscular benzathine penicillin G (BPG) injection is a key secondary prophylaxis intervention to prevent the progression of RHD, and recurrence of ARF in selected groups of high-risk patients.
This project will analyse the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the adherence to secondary prevention of rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease including by identifying barriers and enablers to RHD secondary prophylaxis during the COVID-19 pandemic. The project will support services to maintain or improve prophylaxis rates during any future periods of intense service disruption.