We hope you are all keeping well and safe during these extraordinary times as we face unprecedented challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic! Many lives have been lost and millions around the world have suffered ill health. Vulnerability has taken on a new meaning in previously robust contexts and countries. Despite Covid, we cannot lose focus on improving the lives of our most vulnerable, our neonates, and would appreciate your ongoing engagements in making sure neonates survive and thrive.  

You are now aware that due to the challenges of COVID 19, the 5TH Biennial USANA congress has been postponed to 8-11 September 2022. The USANA executive committee has decided to offer two 2-hour webinars free of charge to USANA members in 2021. The first webinar (Hypoxic Ischaemic Encephalopathy (HIE) in newborns:  the Heart and the Brain) was held on 15 May 2021 and the second webinar “Small Lives Matter” is planned for 13 November 2021. Plans are ongoing to bring you an exciting programme for USANA 2022.

For this upcoming webinar we are very fortunate to have highly esteemed speakers lined up:

Dr Nathalie Charpak, Pediatrician and Director, Fundacion Canguro/Kangaroo Foundation in Columbia. Dr Charpak will talk about “the impact of collecting data in KMC Units: Results of 50 000 KMC Babies’ Cohorts”. KMC is an evidence-based intervention that has proven to be appropriate for not only improving the quality of LBWI life but also saving their lives.

 Dr Lloyd Tooke, neonatologist at GSH, Dr Jesca Nakibuka, neonatologist from Uganda and third year Paediatric registrar at Red Cross Hospital, Dr Mishkah Petersen, will present preterm vaccination data from the Western Cape in their talk: “Vaccines for prems: Who, when, why and how”.

 Although preterm infants are at a greater risk from vaccine preventable diseases, there are frequent delays in vaccine administration for various reasons, one being fear of adverse effects, with great variability between units. The ‘bigger picture’ and a safe, consistent guideline forward will be discussed at this webinar.