Today we celebrate International Women’s Day.

Each of us has one or more outstanding women in our lives. From our mums, sisters and daughters, to the women in every area of our community.

At SRMG we acknowledge Australian women contributing to health and well-being around the world:

(Click on the names to learn more about these inspiring women)

1) Catherine Hamlin was an Australian doctor who, along with her husband, founded the the worlds only hospital dedicated to treating women who have been injured in child birth. The hospital has treated more than 60000 women for free. Dr Hamlin died aged 96 in 2020.

2) Elizabeth Kenny was a pioneering nurse who introduced active physical rehabilitation for polio sufferers in Australia in the early 20th century. Her innovative approach challenged the conventional treatment of the time which was bed rest.

3) Fiona Stanley is a world renowned epidemiologist and public health advocate. In 1977 she established the WA Maternal and Child Health Research Database. Her work confirmed the benefit of folate supplements in pregnancy in preventing spina bifida.

4) Tracy Westerman is an indigenous woman from the Pilbara. She is also a world leader in Aboriginal mental health and suicide prevention. Despite her own background of social disadvantage she achieved a Master Degree in Clinical Psychology and a PhD.

Of course there are 1000s of other women working in every area of health and medicine, each of them contributing to the well-being of the people around them.

This article has been written by Dr Liz Tompkins