Radio Brisvaani
Brisbane, August 20 (MCCQ Newsdesk)
As part of Multicultural Month, the Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland (ECCQ) has recognised Zhihong Gu, Program Manager of the Love Health Program, for her exceptional contributions to health equity across diverse communities.
For more than two decades, Zhihong has been a driving force in breaking down barriers to health access. She pioneered the bilingual community health worker model, enabling culturally and linguistically diverse communities to overcome language obstacles in accessing vital health services. What began as a one-person initiative under her leadership has now grown into a dedicated team of 12 experts working on hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, and sexual health — areas often underserved and burdened with stigma.
In the past year alone, Zhihong’s team achieved remarkable outcomes: distributing 25,546 health resources in 18 languages, delivering 49 community education sessions, and conducting 713 Fibroscan tests across 21 cultural groups. Beyond service delivery, her work has influenced policy reforms and earned national recognition. ECCQ’s “B Healthy” resource, developed under her leadership, was recently endorsed by the Gastroenterological Society of Australia.
Zhihong’s vision and dedication continue to shape a more inclusive Queensland, where communities of every background can access life-changing health information in their own language.
