UPCOMING MEETING JAN 18, 2021 VIA ZOOM ONLY Meghan McDermott, Policy Director, BC Civil Liberties Association
Meghan joined the BCCLA as staff counsel in March of 2017. With a B.A. in philosophy from Concordia University, her compassion and curiosity drove her to study law at the University of Victoria so that she could collaborate with others to pursue law reform in the interest of enhancing social justice. She has an LL.M. from the University of Edinburgh where her studies focused on whether parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change have a responsibility to share the benefits of their forestry-related activities with local and Indigenous communities.
Prior to joining the BCCLA she worked for many years as an advisor with the government of British Columbia, developing environmental and health policy and legislation. She has also provided legal services for the government of Ontario and interned as a legal analyst with the Dullah Omar Institute for Constitutional Law, Governance and Human Rights in South Africa.
UPCOMING MEETING JAN 25, 2021 Cecelia Reekie, Haisla Nation cultural presenter, Langley School District Truth and Reconciliation
Cecelia is a member of the Haisla Nation who was adopted at birth, being raised without connection to her family and community Cecelia now realizes the importance of connection. Cecelia is a member of the Haisla Nation who does many Cultural Presentations on Indigenous Issues.
Rotary World Help Summary Dec 2021
Our mission is to Help Communities Help Themselves.
Founder’s story:
In 1992 a group from the Rotary Club of Vancouver Club were in Kiev, Ukraine, helping to set
up a club charter. While there, this group from Vancouver was invited by the incoming
president to visit one of the local hospitals – the Chernobyl Children’s Hospital -- just to see the conditions and to see if the international community could help out. This hospital was initially set up to handle the children that were impacted by the Chernobyl incident.
What our Rotarians saw in that hospital in Kiev horrified them – the conditions were appalling,
the doctors and nurses were well trained, but they had very little in the way of equipment and
supplies to work with.
When our members came back to Vancouver, they, through various contacts, found out that
our hospitals often have discarded used equipment and supplies that could be sent to Kiev. In
1993, the first shipment of medical supplies and equipment to Kiev. The shipment consisted of medical supplies, medical equipment, food (rice, flour) and clothing. The medical material went to the hospital and the food and clothing went to a local orphanage.
What We Are and Do:
Rotary World Help is a non-religious, non-political, not for profit charitable organization
(Registered charitable organization) that collects, stores, and distributes medical equipment
and supplies, dental and optical and educational equipment, and supplies, and on occasion,
disaster relief supplies to international recipients in need at no cost to them. It is a wholly
volunteer operated society with no paid employees and is in receipt of no government funding.
RWH is a network of Rotary Clubs located in British Columbia and is Rotary International
sanctioned. The goods for shipping are picked up by our volunteers from B.C. hospitals, medical and other clinics, nursing and senior’s homes, dental and physiotherapy facilities as well as schools and universities throughout the area. Many of these goods and supplies are in fact diverted from the British Columbia waste stream and are effectively and safely used abroad. Other goods, some new, and many very expensive, are generously donated by individuals and corporate supporters.
RWH Shipments:
Since September 1997 (incorporation) to December, 2021, RWH has sent 425 container
shipments to 61 different countries. Total value of shipments is $144 Million. (Average value $350 Thousand). We have helped 12.5 million people worldwide through our shipments.
Local Rotarians inventory, load, and seal the containers for shipping. Containers are loaded as full as possible to avoid shifting of goods during transport and to get in as much as we can.
Each container is sealed and only opened by the receiver of the goods in the receiving country. Shipments are sent by Rotarians (through the RWH) and distributed by the local Rotary club. Hospitals get equipment that is a vast improvement over previous equipment.
Thank you to all of you who came to today’s meeting in person. It is wonderful to see you all.
Rotary World Help sent us an annual review. See above for the full report.
An update regarding Leo Allas’ funeral – due to the current provincial health orders the event has been postponed. It was set for January 16th. We will pass on further updates as we receive them. Thanks to Bill Schulz for passing on this info.
The RCoV Board met last week. Being the first meeting back after our annual break, it was a short one. At the meeting we approved financing request from CSC for the Sancta Maria House in the amount of $3,300 to fund sewing equipment, computer and related software.
Also discussed by the Board was when we should resume in-person meetings. It was very encouraging to see our in-person numbers increase significantly in December to then be set back again by the Omicron variant concerns. For now, the Board will decide week to week whether we will meet remotely via ZOOM or resume our in-person gatherings. As things are still uncertain, next week, January 18th, we will meet again via ZOOM.
Secretary's announcements:
reminders of upcoming events/meetings (see above)
birthdays, member club anniversaries, wedding anniversaries (see above)
Special presentations and members' moments:
Gabby Dickert made an appeal for volunteers for the Rotaract CareerCon. They are looking for people willing to represent their industries/businesses by either speaking or sitting on a panel. Volunteer yourself or someone you know who can speak to career choices/opportunities. Looking for a wide array of jobs, can be anything -- remotely crazy through to regular well-known jobs. The date is Jan 22nd and will be virtual. Contact Gabby for more info.
CareerCon is open to all UBC students (and others) with the goals of:
1. Exposing students to conventional and unconventional career paths;
2. Building relationships with students and industry professionals;
3. Professional development via networking and Q&A Tom Crean volunteered if the Rotaractors are interested in his line of expertise. Gabby will follow up.
Joan Posivy will be organizing another auction to support YSC projects. She is currently looking for an on-line auction app specialist to help out. Contact Joan if you or someone you know fits the bill.
Parisa Adrangi shared two things.
(1) Towards the end of last year, Dec16th, the Membership committee hosted a networking event @ Rhianon Chow’s office. One of the sponsors was Summerland Winery, the owner of which is a personal friend of Parisa. They have offered us as a club if we have the occasion to buy & resell their wine, they will take 25% off retail price to keep that in the club.
(2) Parisa also shared a sincere thank you to all for supporting her and Easter Seals through the rappelling event donations.
Michael Woolnough was out on new years eve walking through and taking photos at Jericho Beach. It was a great winter scene with kids tobogganing and people playing hockey on the pond that was unusually frozen. As he approached the hockey game to take some photos he fell into the pond through the ice at the edge and sunk up to his navel. Thankfully he was fine, though wet and cold. He got himself home to warm up after this early unexpected polar bear swim. Thankfully all ended well.
Program:
Wayne Fraser introduced speaker Dr. Margaret Lu, Director of Medication Adherence, CuePath Innovation. With over 20000 drug prescriptions in north America Margaret keeps current about it all. Dr. Lu is a BC Registered Pharmacist, PharmD.
Dr. Lu understands the clinical risk of prescribing and taking medications in our daily lives. You or someone close to you is undoubtedly taking chronic medication. Do you know what it's supposed to do and what happens when it is not taken exactly as prescribed?
The Framingham Study was huge, a mass heart study that was done just after the 2nd world war. It is one of the largest longitudinal studies in history that contributed greatly to the knowledge base of cardiovascular health issues. It was through Framingham that the commonly used health risk score card showing the risk factors of developing heart issues withing the next ten years was developed.
Based on the the shown risk factors, a population with similar risks will be treated similarly. It is necessary to know what the cut off percent is for what event. It gets very complicated when looking at potential outcomes. Gets further complicated when taking treatment costs into account. How do physicians identify an individual who will potentially have an event and then preventing that event.
There are a number of complicated considerations:
General population health, considering language, socio-economic challenges
Specific population health, considering targeted campaigns to ensure there is no disconnect in values
Individual assessments, considering lab work and physical exams, ensuring availability of all
Treatment decisions, with a total care plan, ensuring the individual buys in and understands the process and treatment
Patient buy-in, to ensure consent and continued adherence
Prevent health event = success.
Education throughout is very important to combat misinformation.
In summary,
Framingham was the origin of many of today's cardiovascular risk factors
The numbers needed to treat is one of the many tools to guide clinical decision making
Healthcare is complicated at all levels of delivery and decision
Personalization in healthcare helps to increase accessibility, technology and education.
CuePath Innovation tries to help the average older or aging adults take their meds as prescribed thus bringing caregivers peace of mind and improving patients’ quality of life.
If you have any questions or would like more info, feel free to contact Dr. Lu directly, margaret.lu@cuepath.com.
Meeting adjourned with a toast to access to staying healthy.
Meghan joined the BCCLA as staff counsel in March of 2017. With a B.A. in philosophy from Concordia University, her compassion and curiosity drove her to study law at the University of Victoria so that she could collaborate with others to pursue law reform in the interest of enhancing social justice. She has an LL.M. from the University of Edinburgh where her studies focused on whether parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change have a responsibility to share the benefits of their forestry-related activities with local and Indigenous communities.
