IRISi participated in the UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs) Public Health Conference 2025, held from June 23rd to 27th in London. Themed Collaborative approaches to risk communication, the event gathered senior health leaders, including Chief Medical Officers and programme managers from across the Caribbean and other UKOTs, to explore how behavioural science can strengthen public health responses.
This year’s conference focused on risk communication strategies for a range of public health priorities, from infectious disease outbreaks and antimicrobial resistance to mental health, vaccine uptake, and, crucially, violence prevention.
IRISi on the frontline of violence prevention
IRISi was invited to contribute to the session on Communicating risks in violence prevention public health approaches: partnerships, intelligence and impact, held on Wednesday, 25th of June. Medina Johnson, IRISi’s CEO, joined an international panel featuring experts, including:
- Dr Aisha Andrewin, Chief Medical Officer, Anguilla (Chair)
- Sunita Stürup-Toft, Deputy Head of Programme, UKOTs and Consultant in Global Public Health, UKHSA
- Lib Peck, Director of the London Violence Reduction Unit
- Professor Helen Lowey, Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit
- Dr Helen Carter, Director of Public Health, Gibraltar
- Martin Tilbury, Chief Executive, StreetDoctors
Medina highlighted IRISi’s work embedding domestic abuse and sexual violence response in healthcare settings through the IRIS and ADViSE programmes. Reflecting on the experience, she said:
“Great to work with health colleagues from the UK Overseas Territories at their annual public health conference. There was much interest in our work and a shift in thinking by some to realise and agree that gender-based violence is indeed an urgent and important health issue that should not remain taboo or solely in the realm of social care. Understanding the complexities of confidentiality and responses in very small communities was an interesting learning for our team at IRISi.”
Also representing IRISi at the conference were Melanie Goodway, Director of Programmes and Innovation, and Annie Howell, Director of Income Generation.
Strengthening global connections
IRISi’s presence at the conference opened meaningful conversations with Chief Medical Officers and senior health professionals from Bermuda, Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, and Gibraltar, among others. These exchanges allowed for mutual learning on how violence impacts communities across small island contexts and how public health systems can respond with trauma-informed, evidence-based interventions.
Melanie Goodway noted:
“We connected with a few Chief Medical Officers from the UK overseas territories and it was great to hear more about their work on the ground, mainly across the Caribbean islands and the things they are engaging with around violence prevention.”
A key point of connection was Sunita Stürup-Toft, who extended the invitation to IRISi and featured on the violence prevention panel. We are grateful to her and the wider UKHSA UKOTs Programme team for the opportunity to contribute and share our learning.
The UK Overseas Territories Public Health Conference is an annual event hosted by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
For Annie Howell, Director of Income Generation, “IRISi’s engagement in this year’s event marks a valuable step in growing international collaboration around gender-based violence as a public health priority. We look forward to strengthening these new connections and working together toward a world where healthcare systems respond effectively to domestic abuse and sexual violence, wherever they are”.
