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VIRTUAL EVENT: 365 days later - Where are we now in the Covid19 Pandemic?
09 March 2021, 1:00 pm–2:00 pm
A year on from the declaration of the pandemic by the WHO, this session will explore what factors led us to the current point in the crisis.
This event is free.
Event Information
Open to
- All
Availability
- Yes
Cost
- Free
Organiser
-
Sanaa Al-Busaidy
About the lecture:
As a global health adviser and educator, Oksana Pyzik has spoken extensively about the impact of COVID-19 throughout the world. A year on from the declaration of the pandemic by the WHO, this session will explore what factors led us to the current point in the crisis and where we will go next as new obstacles continue to emerge in the fight against coronavirus. The WHO Director General has highlighted a parallel pandemic of misinformation coined as an "infodemic" that spreads faster than the virus itself and in some ways is even more dangerous. As the Founder of UCL Fight the Fakes, Oksana will explore the link between misinformation, disinformation, and vaccine shortages which have led to the rise of substandard and falsified Covid19 medical products, ranging from PPE, to testing kits and even vaccines.
About the Speaker
Oksana Pyzik
Senior Teaching Fellow, from the Research Department of Practice and Policy (UCL School of Pharmacy)
Oksana Pyzik hails from Sudbury, Ontario in Canada and relocated to the UK in 2005. Oksana is a UK registered pharmacist with experience across primary care, academia and in global public health. She joined the UCL School of Pharmacy in 2013 and is now a Lecturer in Global Health & Pharmacy Practice as well as Global Engagement Lead. She serves on the Board of Trustees of the Commonwealth Pharmacists’ Association and advises NGOs and the World Health Organisation around issues such as access to quality medicines. In 2015, she launched the "Outbreak of Infectious Disease & Global Citizenship Programme" a multi-disciplinary education initiative at UCL and throughout the ongoing COVID19 pandemic has been a regular contributor in the media. Oksana is also the Founder & Chair of the UCL Fight the Fakes Alliance to raise awareness around the growing global health threat of substandard and falsified medicines. In 2020, Oksana was named one of Britain’s Top 35 Women under 35 by Accenture & Management Today for her work in global health and Fight the Fakes. Oksana also mentors youth from under-represented backgrounds and is a strong advocate of women in STEM addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York 2018 and 2020 at the International Day of Women & Girls in Science Forum.