Category: Health

The significant impact that dental disease makes to the financial and social burdens of preventable chronic illness in Australia is rarely acknowledged, although there is substantial evidence of the inequalities in access to dental care. Dental care is not seen as an essential part of health care as if the mouth is not seen as part of the human body. This situation will not change unless and until answers are found to a series of crucial questions. (more…)

The formation of the Australian Health Reform Association (AHReform) is triggered by the need to have a community organisation with members from all healthcare professions to help create a safer working environment for all healthcare professionals so that they can provide the highest standard of care for healthcare consumers.  This article introduces the subject of medical bullying which is widespread in Australia and AHReform’s proposal on how to effectively reform the healthcare system to reduce the incidence of depression and suicides among medical practitioners.  (more…)

The Dietitians Association of Australia has pledged to cut financial ties with the sugar lobby following a series of investigations. The DAA initiative and the exoneration of surgeon and sugar critic Dr Gary Fettke are significant steps towards diet reform in Australia.  (more…)

Last week was National Children’s week, with a theme that children’s views and opinions should be respected, that they have a right to be heard. (more…)

Australia’s disgraced cricket trio, Steven Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, may have engineered the ball tampering scandal in South Africa this year, but the damning cultural review released yesterday has found an arrogant and controlling Cricket Australia essentially to blame. (more…)

There is a very strong need in our community for a refreshing whole-of-government approach to confronting the major health issues of our day.  This starts with the recognition that many of our political institutions were developed for an Industrial Age era, where a silo approach to delivering policy, exacerbated by a federated service delivery model, is no longer capable of dealing with the most pressing health issues of our time.  These include the unconstrained tragedy of preventable non-communicable disease proliferation; which, according to a PwC study commissioned by Australian Unity, will be unsustainable in Australia as early as 2025.

The PwC report Practical innovation: closing the social infrastructure gap in health and ageing, paints a very sorry picture of the inadequacy of resources and political understanding and leadership as Australia’s population rapidly ages, calling for the need for a “truly holistic approach to health and wellbeing, this should cover all aspects of government, not just be restricted to health”.  (more…)

Self-contained health programs directed at infectious diseases such as HIV, TB, malaria have wrought miracles, saving lives and enhancing prosperity. But a new challenge is looming globally, as subtle as climate change. 

No self-contained ‘vertical’ programs work for non-communicable disease: here we need health systems that span conditions and facilities, linking hospitals to general practice and community services for a wide variety of patients and conditions, from chronic heart disease to mental illness. 

Investment in health systems that address these needs is necessary (though not sufficient) for enhancing future productivity.  (more…)

Fast-rising medical expenses are restricting access to healthcare and increasing long-term costs.

If two Australian capital cities were suddenly left without any dental services it would be considered a national crisis. But a problem of this size occurs each year and is ignored by governments and policy-makers. In 2016–17, more than 3.4 million Australians — equivalent to the combined population of Brisbane and Adelaide — delayed or avoided necessary dental care because of its cost. This startling figure is just one of the symptoms of the growing problem of out-of-pocket medical costs, which is undermining the equity, efficiency and universality of the health system. (more…)

The artemisia annua plant has been used for centuries in China to fight malaria. In 2011 a Chinese scientist, Tu Youyou, discovered how to extract the ingredient responsible for the anti-malarial effect (now called Artemisinin) and her reward was a Nobel Prize. Where there is good anecdotal evidence that something in a herb or plant can help with certain diseases, it’s more than appropriate for modern scientific techniques to be used to try and identify, purify and standardise the responsible chemical. This has nothing to do with the concepts associated with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).  Many of the drugs we use today are derived from plants thought to have medicinal properties in numerous cultures. (more…)

Remarkably and unfortunately politics, not clinical effectiveness, is powering the global penetration of Traditional Chinese Medicine into health care systems. The term “Traditional Chinese Medicine” (TCM) was dreamt up by Chairman Mao Zedong in a cynical response to the Communist Party’s inability to provide evidence-based health care for the then 500 million Chinese. Mao knew that TCM was largely useless and was derogatory about TCM practitioners but he none-the-less set about its expansion. This saw a reversal of a progressive acceptance of scientific medicine in China which started in the 19th century.  (more…)

It has been sad to observe the growth in out-of-pocket expenses for patients seeking expert medical consultation and the resultant rising inequality in access to timely care and in health outcomes (“Specialists charging extreme fees”, March 6. These twin inequities are deeply felt in western Sydney. (more…)

The child was six years old. His parents were struggling to manage his Diabetes. He had Type 1 diabetes, the most serious form of the disease caused by his own immune system destroying his pancreas. As a result he could no longer produce required amounts of Insulin to control his blood sugar levels. Regular injections of Insulin were keeping him alive. The heartbreaking tragedy that descended on this vulnerable child and caused his death involved the practice of “paidalajin”, an alternative Chinese medicine technique that involves slapping, pulling and stretching the skin until it bruises.

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Every Australian owes a great debt to John Deeble who died this week in Canberra, aged 87. Together with Dick Scotton he provided Gough Whitlam from 1967 onwards with the essential advice on how to establish a compulsory public insurance health program – Medicare. The result was Gough Whitlam’s triumph in government on 7 August 1974, in a joint sitting of the parliament, to establish Medicare. The scheme started on 1 July 1975 when Medicare cards were issued to all Australians.

We now have one of the best health schemes in the world, although it clearly needs renovation. Without John Deeble it is hard to visualise how Medicare would have been possible. (more…)

As responsible adults we need to do all we can to ensure that our young are provided with the best opportunities to live purposeful, fulfilling lives and are encouraged to partake of these opportunities. We need to strive to provide them with an optimum set of values and attitudes, and an environment in which they will make lifestyle choices that will enhance their physical, mental and social wellbeing. There is the question of alcohol and its place in our society.  (more…)

None of the “wicked’ problems in health – obesity, mental illness and suicide, chronic illness, ageing – will be solved with just hospitals, doctors, nurses and prescription pads. They all require resources beyond those provided by the health care system. That’s not news; there are very few health professionals who deny the impact of the social determinants of health on health outcomes and health care costs and the importance of linking into social services. The challenge is how to achieve this. In essence – how do we move the focus from general practice and primary care to primary health care? (There is a difference: see Primary care vs Primary health care: and who cares?)  (more…)

Medical oncologist Jonathan Page says being more in the moment helps him to be a better doctor.  His relationships with his patients were once characterised by “coldness…. and a lack of grieving”.  But a mental health crisis that led him to Buddhist meditation helped change that. 
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The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)  has released its Health expenditure Australia 2016–17 report. This report contains detailed data on expenditure throughout our health system and is a valuable resource for governments, policy makers and health stakeholders. (more…)

Public and private health expenditure amounted to 10.3% of gross domestic product in 2016-17, almost exactly the same percentage as in 2015-16, according to figures released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (more…)

With the recent announcement of a Royal Commission into Aged Care, debate is raging in the aged care sector and beyond as to whether it is really needed.  (more…)

The Royal Commission announced this week will have a full agenda. If it can help us get aged care back on track we will all be the richer. (more…)

“Each Australian story I’ve heard is etched on my heart, permanently shifting my views and perspectives on leadership. I pray that you also have the humility to silence the chatter in your own minds and be inspired by the people you represent.” (more…)

Sheila holds 10 teaspoons in her hands and every time the cooker whistles, she puts one down.  After 10 whistles, she switches the cooker off. The rice is done. She takes down two pots and prepares one of the five vegetable dishes she remembers. When dinner arrives at the table, there are two places set for five people but she is resolute about particular people being assigned particular plates. There is to be no intermingling or sharing of plates; everyone must know their plate and place at this table.   (more…)

12 September)marks 40 years since the World Health Organization member countries gathered for the International Conference on Primary Health Care in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and signed off on the declaration of Alma-Ata. (more…)

Over 40 years ago, I was fortunate to do some of my paediatric training with Berry Brazelton. He wasn’t famous then, but there was something about him that set him apart from the purely organic focus of most of the senior staff at Boston Children’s Hospital. He was interested in babies as individuals with their own sets of skills. Here was a paediatrician prepared to question the status quo about the abilities of infants and young children who based his views, not on the prevailing dogma, but on careful observation. He was the first to recognise that a baby is a highly developed human, even when just newly born. (more…)

New medications are increasingly expensive. In Australia, where the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) covers the vast majority of prescription medications, the spiraling cost of medicines has a significant impact on the sustainability of our health system.  In countries where patients are required to contribute substantially to the medicine cost, high prices can negatively influence their health outcomes.  (more…)

The 10^th September is recognised as World Suicide Prevention Day.

“The burden of suicide does not weigh solely on the health sector; it has multiple impacts on many sectors and on society as a whole. Thus, to start a successful journey towards the prevention of suicide, countries should employ a multisectoral approach that addresses suicide in a comprehensive manner, bringing together the different sectors and stakeholders most relevant to each context”. Director-General, WHO Preventing Suicide: A global imperative, 2014. (more…)