Women's Health week, Pauline took the opportunity to host a virtual coffee catch-up for women in the South East, inviting Multicultural Centre for Women's Health to facilitate a discussion of COVID-19, vaccines, and other women's health issues.
Here's what she has to say...
"Health information is something that is already difficult to find without misinformation, sensationalism, and barriers. If we couple this with the pain and struggle surrounding COVID-19-- and for some a language barrier-- it becomes only more difficult to find information that is accurate, understandable, free and fair.
There is particular importance in making certain that women in migrant communities and diaspora communities have information that is both accurate and culturally relevant. As women, we are often concerned with decisions that relate to our own health and the health of our family, loved ones. Without the opportunity to meet, women also need to recreate meeting and discussion spaces without judgement.
The attendance of a clinician alongside health educators from Multicultural Centre for Women's Health made this event especially helpful for the women in attendance. Dr. Alias', an obstetrician and gynecology specialis took the group through their concerns about COVID-19 and vaccines. It helped immensely that the health educators together spoke Dari, Farsi, Hazaragi, Arabic, Sudanese Arabic, Assyrian, Hindi, Punjabi and Dinka.
From this, I encourage us all to ensure that we are meeting people where they are, because that's the first step towards bringing them along with us."
- Pauline Richards MP for Cranbourne
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