Chikungunya update meeting

Yvonne began her nursing career 38 years ago and has been involved in primary care and travel health for just as long. She has worked overseas for thirteen years in southern and west Africa in primary care provision, vaccination campaigns, in resettlement camps, and community generated health improvement projects for the UK government, NGOs, and corporate industry.

These experiences further inspired her career-long passion for vaccine promotion and travel health. She has set up travel clinics in primary care and promotes lifelong vaccination awareness and the importance of vaccine confident HCPs. She was shortlisted for the RCN Nurse Leader of the Year 2019 for her Changing the Culture of Vaccination in General Practice project and featured in the RSPH 2019 film Healthier Environments as a Vaccine Champion.

Yvonne is a Fellow of the Faculty of Travel Medicine, RCPS, Glasgow, and represents the faculty as Regional Advisor (Northwest), a module lead on the RCPSG Postgraduate Diploma in Travel Medicine, the Secretary of the BGTHA and is also an independent travel health specialist nurse and educator.

Professor Derek Evans qualified as a pharmacist in 1983 and worked in community pharmacy where he started his interest in travel medicine. After completing his independent prescribing qualification, he undertook the Diploma in Travel Medicine and progressed to become a Fellow and an OSCE Examiner of the Faculty of Travel Medicine.

Derek currently runs his own travel medicine consultancy providing clinical support, education, and training services. He has worked internationally and is a Fellow of both the International Society of Travel Medicine and Royal Geographical Society, and Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Travel Medicine.

Dr George Kassianos CBE, is a Founder Member, President and Fellow of the British Global & Travel Health Association (BGTHA). George has been the Immunisation Lead for the Royal College of General Practitioners since 1996. He is also an acting member of a Public Health England UK Advisory Panel on Blood-borne Viruses in Healthcare Workers.

Dr Kassianos has authored several research papers and books on travel medicine, immunisation and cardiovascular disease and is also an editorial board member of 6 publications. He is the Associate Editor and past Editor-in-Chief (for 10 years) of the international journal “Drugs in Context”. George has been a General Practitioner for 38 years.