How to improve flu vaccination rates among all target groups?

Dr Gulam Khandaker is a public health physician and the Director of Public Health for Central Queensland in Australia. He is an established career researcher and an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Sydney, with 69 peer reviewed publications, eight national and international awards, and over $5M in peer reviewed research funds to date.

Dr Khandaker was trained in Paediatrics at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead and in Public Health Medicine at Australia’s National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance ( NCIRS ). He completed his PhD from the University of Sydney in 2013, his Public Health Medicine specialist training ( FAFPHM ) in 2016, and an NHMRC Early Career Fellowship the same year.

He is the Co Director of the Asian Institute of Disability and Development (www.disabilityasia.org) and the Honorary Executive Director of CSF Global (www.csf global.org), an international NGO working for children with disability. He has established research collaborations in several Low and Middle Income Countries ( LMIC ) including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Vietnam.

This module discusses the estimated mortality of influenza and its complications, particularly in the paediatric population. Associate Professor Gulam Khandaker provides insights into the influenza vaccine emphasising the WHO recommendations, vaccine efficacy, barriers of vaccine uptake, as well as the role of healthcare professionals in promoting vaccine uptake.