Mrs Jane Butcher, a Board
member of the Australian Practice Nurses Association (APNA), and Nursing in
General Practice Program Coordinator for the WA General Practice Network, says
that the grants represent a shift in thinking by facilitating a collaborative
approach to disease prevention.
"The grants are also flexible,
with a dynamic category changing each year depending on what is most relevant
to the Australian setting. This year, it is improving Medicare Local (ML)
collaboration at a time when the final MLs will be in place."
The five $20,000 grants will be
awarded to immunisation providers with a bright idea in the following
categories:
- Applying innovation in areas of low immunisation
- Increasing vaccination coverage for Indigenous Australians
- Increasing vaccination coverage for four year olds
- Decreasing vaccine wastage and leakage
- Improving collaboration
within a Medicare Local to promote the NIP across multiple immunisation
providers and the wider community.
Sanofi Pasteur Medical &
Regulatory Affairs Director, Dr Glen Mason, said that following the awarding of
the grants, an overview of all the Sanofi Pasteur VaxiGrants entries will be
available online, and will allow immunisation providers to interact via
commenting and sharing tools.
"By encouraging immunisation
providers to think creatively, and by facilitating the sharing of ideas, we can
better learn from each other," said Mrs Butcher.
Ideas can be submitted to
www.vaxigrants.com.au and applications close on 30 September 2012 at 5pm.
The winners will be announced
in November at the Australian General Practice Network (AGPN) National Forum,
in Adelaide.
