• 07 Apr 2020
  • 3 min
  • 07 Apr 2020
  • 3 min

A message to listeners from David Liew  about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Transcript

Welcome to the Australian Prescriber Podcast. Australian Prescriber, independent, peer-reviewed, and free.

My name is David Liew, one of the hosts of the Australian Prescriber Podcast, and on behalf of the podcast I wanted to share a few thoughts with you about the COVID-19 crisis.

These genuinely are difficult, unprecedented times. Right now we don’t know what is to come, whether we in Australia will escape some of the worst of it.

It is one of the greatest challenges we will ever face, not just as a health community but as a broader Australian community. Many people have died of COVID-19 and the implications have and will continue to reach across every element of our society.

That’s not to say that other health challenges don’t still exist, but you could easily be forgiven for not paying them as much attention. We still need healthcare workers of all stripes to manage all diseases, and even if there are greater looming challenges, there is still a role for quality education and information across the board.

It is with this in mind that we continue to publish the Australian Prescriber Podcast. Over the past two and a half years, we have been able to bring some of the great content from Australian Prescriber into the spotlight and we have been able to delve deeper into the issues with the expert authors behind the articles.

While we still have the capacity to record and deliver these podcasts, we will continue to do so. In the current climate we apologise if sometimes these pre-recorded podcasts seem out of place or tone-deaf but we want to continue to bring you this content. On top of that, NPS MedicineWise is building ways to bring you COVID-19-related information which is reliable and high quality.

To our friends around the world who are listening from badly affected countries, we stand with you in this time, and you are in our thoughts. To all the healthcare workers in this country, to the doctors, nurses, pharmacists, allied health practitioners, to the students who are stepping up, to those practising in public health, and to all those support workers within the health system who make it all possible – thank you for your service, in our time of need.

Finally, if this is a war, this is a war that we will win with discipline. Let’s be disciplined with social distancing, with hand hygiene, let’s be disciplined with only using the personal protective equipment and resources that we need. Let’s be kind to our fellow humans in this incredibly stressful time. If we hoard, if we stockpile, if we bend the rules, if we undermine, we move away from an optimal outcome and we’ll move closer to losing this battle. As well, now more than ever we must continue with evidence-based practice, to trust our experts, and to work together.

From all of us at the Australian Prescriber Podcast, know that we are thinking of you, know that we will walk this with you. Your support is greatly appreciated. Thank you for listening, as always, and stay well.

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