The outgoing IMO President has warned that the “painstaking progress” made in public health over generations is under threat like “never before”.
Dr Anne Dee, Consultant in Public Health Medicine, delivered the warning during her outgoing Presidential address at the IMO AGM on 10 April.
“As a public health doctor, it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge that we live in very uncertain times for public health,” she told delegates.
She referenced the US President Donald Trump, the US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F Kennedy Jnr, rising populist parties in Europe, and anti-science voices on social media as sources of health misinformation.
“It is clear that the painstaking progress that we have made in public health over generations is under threat like never before… with the attacks on public health vaccination policies,” said Dr Dee.
She said it takes just a “few powerful people to sow doubt” and destroy years of progress.
“We must always remain ready to counter these lies… it is an important reminder that the issues we deal with matter. And the truth matters.”
After her speech, the Presidential chain of office was officially handed over to Prof Matthew Sadlier.
Prof Sadlier told the Medical Independent (MI) that social media regulation will be a key area of focus during his term. “I’ll be looking at pushing that agenda over the next year.”
At the end of last year, Australia implemented a world-first measure prohibiting children under 16 from accessing major social media platforms to protect their mental health. Prof Sadlier said he will be looking at the experience of Australia and some European countries on this issue. Ireland’s upcoming presidency of the European Union also provides an opportunity to set the agenda on this matter, said Prof Sadlier.
“These are issues I have campaigned on, both personally and with the IMO, and that would be a big thing for me.”
The new President, a Consultant in Old Age Psychiatry, also told this newspaper that he expects hospital matters to be at the forefront of his time in office. These include the “challenge around the implementation of the consultant contract” and the implementation of the “productivity construct that the Minister [for Health] has talked about…and the weekend rostering and what that can do to improve the service”.
“As I have said multiple times, we are not against any of that,” he told MI. “But we want to make sure that where and when it is done, it is done in a productive manner, and we don’t have performative rostering in order to tick boxes. Rather that we do it in the specialties that make a difference, in the areas that make a difference.”
Acute hospitals need to be organised so that patients have access to the “right practitioner in a timely manner”, he added.
Meanwhile, in her address as Treasurer, Dr Ina Kelly reported that the Organisation was “in a strong financial position”.
As of December 2025, the accounts showed “member funds of €13.7 million”.
The IMO industrial relations team dealt with over 10,000 queries from members in 2025, according to Dr Kelly.
“It is indeed unfortunate that the number of requests for assistance is increasing year on year, which points to a system that consistently fails to fully honour and deliver on negotiated agreements.”
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