St Matthew tells us that Jesus was at pains to teach his disciples that, “A house divided against itself cannot stand”. The truism comes to mind as one looks in vain for the United States of Australia, an entity essential for our taming of the Covid pandemic.
Category: Health
-
Go hard, go early. But the PM prefers a go slow on key issues
The Treasury advice to government at the time of the Global Financial Crisis was to “go hard, go early” with counter-measures, and that has since become an accepted model when confronted with an unexpected, major, crisis. (more…)
-
Reaching 80% vaccination isn’t the same for all communities. The vulnerable will continue to suffer.
The NSW government has made much of the promise that something good will happen when localities achieve 80 per cent of second jabs of eligible people. But not all numbers are equal.
-
NSW’s reopening plan is risky, and signals an end to a national approach
By abandoning the national plan, NSW’s gamble to go it alone on easing restrictions for fully vaccinated people further fractures federalism… NSW initially locked down too little and too late.
-
Sunday environmental round up.
Small farmers and local, sustainable food production more likely to feed the world than multinational corporations supported by government subsidies. Health professionals come out fighting on climate change and Biden hears the roar. 2020 and the planet is in its worst shape ever.
-
In a liberal capitalist society, Charlie Teo exemplifies the freedom and the potential of the entrepreneur
Does the unease about well-known neurosurgeon Charlie Teo arise from jealousy? Or is there something wrong with the wider social system?
-
John Menadue-At last,Australia backs Covid vaccine patent waiver. Better late than never
People’s vaccines may yet become a reality. Let’s hope so despite opposition by Big Pharma and rich countries.
-
Doherty has ditched the pledge to First Nations Australians
The Doherty Institute says it’s committed to Indigenous Australians, but it fails to protect marginalised communities.
-
When should the lockdown end?
Suppressing the virus will require much lower caseloads before lockdowns can lift, even if we meet vaccination targets.
-
Fix the means test for a consumer-friendly retirement income system
Australia’s retirement income system needs reform to make it more secure and user friendly.
-
A major revamp of health workforce planning and research infrastructure is necessary in Australia
How do we plan and deliver a healthcare workforce that is more responsive to population needs?
-
The virus and social cultures: A national plan beyond Doherty
Australia needs a new and realistic national plan for emerging from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
-
A food for special medical purposes for cancer patients?
Yet another example of a major discrepancy in consumer protection in the regulation of therapeutic claims made for medicines compared to therapeutic claims made for food.
-
The Age demeans itself as well as the Victorian public health team
The most disturbing aspect of The Age’s disappointing editorial yesterday is its undermining of the state’s public health messaging and compliance efforts. (more…)
-
It’s time to change the Covid narrative from getting to zero to harm minimisation
Now is the time to adopt a new narrative for living with COVID-19 by replacing getting to zero with minimising the harm.
-
Blessed are the rich in securing vaccines
Australia is among the rich, western countries siding with Big Pharma to thwart the widespread manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines.
(more…) -
The shameful global vaccine apartheid in 10 images
The single biggest moral and scientific failure during this global crisis is vaccine inequity.
-
Trading Covid freedoms in NSW
Among the wreckage caused by a near two-year pandemic, with far to go, is the idea and ideal of “freedom”.
-
Gladys Berejiklian, deep in farce yesterday, threatening chaos today
Faced with a Covid crisis, the NSW government has failed to lead when its people needed it the most.
-
Wilcannia and Covid, a disastrous, discriminatory, failure by Australian and NSW Governments.
The small town of Wilcannia, on the Darling River in outer western New South Wales, has a predominantly Indigenous population of 549, more than 60 of whom now have Covid. At 11%, this is the highest rate of Covid transmission per capita in the state, three times higher than the Sydney hotspot LGAs. Wilcannia has one of the lowest vaccination rates, with around 15% of its Indigenous population fully vaccinated compared to the state average of 35%, while across western NSW less than 7% of the Indigenous population over 16 years is fully vaccinated.
-
Covid-19 Infections, Vaccinations, Lockdowns, and the Economy
The Morrison Government is desperate to end lockdowns, not least because of what they see as the damage the lockdowns are doing to the economy. (more…)
-
Stakeholder voices in health policy
Formulation of COVID policy, as with other aspects of health policy, has involved stakeholders voicing their opinions about what’s in Australia’s best interest. Or at least, that is how their lobbying is framed.
-
Opening with 70% of adults vaccinated, the Doherty report predicts 1.5K deaths in 6 months. We need a revised plan
One consequence of the escalating COVID outbreak in New South Wales has been increased political tension around the “national plan” for COVID reopening.
-
Premier Berejiklian, please stop thinking about easing of restrictions after “6 million jabs”
There have been many mistakes in many countries hindering efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic. None has been more counterproductive than the premature easing of public health containment initiatives. Time and time again this has breathed new life into infections by the SARS-Cov-2 virus. This is especially so when dealing with the “Delta” variant.
-
How Covid in NSW has revealed the differences and disadvantages of class, race, age and gender.
Gaming the virus in NSW: how fighting the last war will not win the next one.Premier Berejiklian is not listening. (more…)
-
Vaccinating aged care staff: mismanagement by Scott Morrison’s government.
Calling something as poorly designed as Australia’s Covid vaccination system ‘a rollout’ gives wheels a bad name. The failure to manage effectively the identification of priority groups for coronavirus vaccination, and to deliver vaccines to them, has to date been an awful failure of public administration.
-
Gladys’ infection is spreading everywhere
Intransigence is experienced by many of us daily. It may even dominate our own emotional repertoire. Now, though, as NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announces rising Covid infections and accumulating deaths, this unhelpful trait seems increasingly endangering.
-
Not good enough, Premier Berejiklian
The NSW outbreak of delta infections is worse after six weeks of lockdown. As I am sure is true for many readers, I am frustrated today by the obvious loopholes in our current “lockdown”.
-
As US hits Biden’s 70% vaccination goal, world’s poor nations barely over 1%
Exposing stark global vaccine inequity amid a fast-spreading delta variant, White House officials said Monday that at least 70% of US adults are now at least partly vaccinated against the coronavirus – compared to just barely over 1% when it comes to the world’s poorest nations. (more…)
-
The COVID-19 ‘National Plan’ seems designed to fail
The end goal of the ‘National Plan to transition Australia’s National COVID-19 Response’ announced on July 30 is a nation willing and able to weather the endemic existence of COVID-19 in the community. But this may well be unachievable under the plan because of two fundamental flaws: it is a plan that allows for opting out, or even a veto, by key players; and its targets are not accompanied by timelines.