Medical Community Partners & Support

We receive support from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) Pacific Island Program which has covered the trainers' expenses on Pacific programs during recent years. RACS also funded the reprocessing system installed in the National Referral Hospital, Solomon Islands in 2019 using donated funds from the Ainsworth Foundation which one of our members had led in securing.
The Gastroenterological Society of Australia (GESA) has been supportive with grants and the provision of complimentary registration and exhibition space at the annual AGW Conference. In 2019 we were successful in securing a $12,000 GESA Members Philanthropic Project Grant which we are using to comlete the final stage of the reprocessing system at the natioanl hospital (HNGV) in Dili, Timor-Leste.
In 2021 GESA awarded a $10,000 Members Grant to enable Dr Elizabeth Wore of the Ntaional Referral Hospital in Solomon Islands to attend AGW2021 and observe at Brisbane endoscopy units. Due to lockdowns in Solomon Islands she was unable to attend AGW in either 2021 or 2022. In her place Assoc Prof Mai Ling Perman and Dr Vikash Sharma attended AGW2022 and Assoc Prof Perman presented in the Climate Change session. GESA's continuing support is acknowledged.
The Gastroenterological Nurses College of Australia (GENCA) has also been supportive. Complimentary registration and space is proivided each year at their Annual Conference to promote our work to their members. Senior members regularly promote our cause internally. Many of our Australian nurse trainers are members.
The World Gastroenterology Organisation (WGO) provides support to the WGO Training Centres in Suva and Myanmar. It also donated a large amount of endoscopy equipment in 2009 to the Suva centre. In 2020 we are undertaking three projects in the Pacific with the WGO which it is funding:
The Gastroenterological Society of Australia (GESA) has been supportive with grants and the provision of complimentary registration and exhibition space at the annual AGW Conference. In 2019 we were successful in securing a $12,000 GESA Members Philanthropic Project Grant which we are using to comlete the final stage of the reprocessing system at the natioanl hospital (HNGV) in Dili, Timor-Leste.
In 2021 GESA awarded a $10,000 Members Grant to enable Dr Elizabeth Wore of the Ntaional Referral Hospital in Solomon Islands to attend AGW2021 and observe at Brisbane endoscopy units. Due to lockdowns in Solomon Islands she was unable to attend AGW in either 2021 or 2022. In her place Assoc Prof Mai Ling Perman and Dr Vikash Sharma attended AGW2022 and Assoc Prof Perman presented in the Climate Change session. GESA's continuing support is acknowledged.
The Gastroenterological Nurses College of Australia (GENCA) has also been supportive. Complimentary registration and space is proivided each year at their Annual Conference to promote our work to their members. Senior members regularly promote our cause internally. Many of our Australian nurse trainers are members.
The World Gastroenterology Organisation (WGO) provides support to the WGO Training Centres in Suva and Myanmar. It also donated a large amount of endoscopy equipment in 2009 to the Suva centre. In 2020 we are undertaking three projects in the Pacific with the WGO which it is funding:
- ATP monitoring of endoscope cleaning and disinfection
- Database for endoscopy procedure data recording - to be used in research
- Helicobacter pylori antibiotic resistance testing

Most of our doctor trainers are Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) Fellows. We have co-operated in the past on RACP initiaitives in the Pacific and remain in contact. Read an article about ANZGITA and Finlay Macrae, ANZGITA Chair, on the RACP website
The New Zealand Society of Gastroenterology (NZSG) has provided exhibition space at its annual scientific conference and included us in the Charitable Donations Fund raising at the conference.
The New Zealand Society of Gastroenterology (NZSG) has provided exhibition space at its annual scientific conference and included us in the Charitable Donations Fund raising at the conference.
SIES has again in 2023 provided space in their exhibition area for ANZGITA to promote our activities.
Australian Doctors for Africa (ADFA) support the development of gastroenterological services in Madagascar. We share information and at least one of our members is also active with ADFA.
Doctors Assisting in South Pacific Islands (DAISI) works across Solomon Islands, including at the National Referral Hospital in Honiara, and other Pacific Island Nations. We keep in touch in case there are opportunities to assist one other.
Australian Doctors for Africa (ADFA) support the development of gastroenterological services in Madagascar. We share information and at least one of our members is also active with ADFA.
Doctors Assisting in South Pacific Islands (DAISI) works across Solomon Islands, including at the National Referral Hospital in Honiara, and other Pacific Island Nations. We keep in touch in case there are opportunities to assist one other.
ANZGITA Member Prof Michael Schultz, Head of the Department of Medicine at the University of Otago in Dunedin, NZ, has extended an offer to Pacific physicians to attend the department's online RACP written and clinical exam refresher courses at no charge.
Co-branded with ANZGITA, the offer was very well received with 41 enrolments and represents an extremely generous donation of associated fees valued at $53,000. The ANZGITA Board's thanks go to Prof Schultz and his department's management and staff for their efforts. This is a wonderful opportunity for the physicians who will attend the two-week online course in November, and a significant in-kind donation towards the development of healthcare services in the Pacific.
Co-branded with ANZGITA, the offer was very well received with 41 enrolments and represents an extremely generous donation of associated fees valued at $53,000. The ANZGITA Board's thanks go to Prof Schultz and his department's management and staff for their efforts. This is a wonderful opportunity for the physicians who will attend the two-week online course in November, and a significant in-kind donation towards the development of healthcare services in the Pacific.