Although patients are the people who have the best knowledge of themselves and their particular concerns and who obviously have a strong interest in achieving a good outcome, they are often reluctant to ask their doctor questions. (more…)
Category: Health
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JOHN TAN. Is Australia prepared? The next virus outbreak could be bioterrorism.
Technology to create a synthetic virus like the China new coronavirus is well established. It is widely available to some governments, private firms, and individuals. (more…)
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HANNAH PIERCE & MADDIE DAY. State and territory governments are taking on alcohol marketing
NSW and Tasmania are lagging behind the other states and territories in restricting outdoor alcohol advertising but no jurisdiction is taking action to restrict alcohol advertising in sports stadiums. (more…)
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JOHN MENADUE What is a health service for?
A health service should be run in the interests of the public.Unfortunately any worthwhile reforms of our health sector to benefit the public are usually vetoed by providers with their special interests. (more…)
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DAVID SHEARMAN. The Unrelenting Desire to Export more Coal
Australia has become the climate change pariah of developed countries which are trying to deliver a fair share of emissions reduction. (more…)
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PETER BROOKS. Government’s new out-of-pocket medical costs website – a missed opportunity
The long-awaited Australian Department of Health website designed to provide Australians with information on specialist medical costs, which went ‘live’ on 30 December 2019, is (so far at least) a significant missed opportunity. (more…)
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TREVOR PARMENTER. Tune Report on the National Disability Insurance Scheme
One of the findings of the recent review of the operations of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), conducted by Mr David Tune was that, “some participants feel NDIA staff do not understand disability or appreciate the challenges people with disability face as part of everyday life”.. (more…)
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JON BLACKWELL and KERRY GOULSTON. Aspects of Australian healthcare reform (part 3 of 3) – Big problems and big opportunities
In the first of this 3 part series, we outlined the shortcomings and achievements of our efforts to plan and implement Healthcare Reform in NSW some years ago. In the second paper, we outlined the more recent approach in Denmark, which had a wider and more inclusive Reform Plan. In this third paper, we stress the enormous difficulties currently facing all Australians needing healthcare both now, and in the years ahead, and propose a way forward.
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JON BLACKWELL and KERRY GOULSTON. Aspects of Australian healthcare reform (part 2 of 3) – Learning from Denmark
In the first of this 3 part series, we described some partially successful NSW government healthcare reforms in Greater Metropolitan Sydney, and identified shortcomings in their planning and implementation. In this second part, we look at radical reforms to the Danish healthcare system, commencing in 2007, and some of the outcomes of those changes.
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JON BLACKWELL and KERRY GOULSTON. Aspects of Australian healthcare reform (part 1 of 3) – Some history
This is the first of three papers. It deals with the history of some healthcare reforms in NSW in 2001, their scope and outcomes. The second will comment on similar but in many ways different and more successful healthcare reforms in Denmark, which has a similar population to the Greater Metropolitan Sydney Area. The third will discuss the present difficulties in implementing meaningful healthcare reforms in Australia.
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JOHN DWYER. The lack of truth in Medicine and Science.
Opioid addiction is pervasive and growing rapidly. Medicine and Science are threatened by the phenomenon. (more…)
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IAN WEBSTER.- Advocacy is hard going against the alcohol lobby.
It is a loss powerfully felt,but subdued. Not by politicians or the alcohol industry, but by doctors and nurses in the clinics and rehab. centres. The highly respected Michael Thorn has departed from the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education(FARE) as the CEO. What is the real story? (more…)
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MICHAEL THORN,- The cricket trifecta-booze,junk food and betting.
Cricket Australia’s gift to fans this Christmas was an unhealthy serving of booze, betting and junk food ads. (more…)
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TONY BROE. Privatising Aged Care Assessment Teams
The Federal Government, which has long funded Australia-wide Aged Care Assessment Teams, commonly and often affectionately known as ACATs, has made a ‘surprise’ decision that it will privatise them from April 2021, with a tender to be held this year (30 December 2019).
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DAVID MORE. The ADHA Is Pulling A Large And Costly Confidence Trick On The Australian Medical Profession.
The Australian Digital Health Agency is expecting the medical profession to make a huge effective financial contribution in time and effort to make a flawed My Health Record System even a very partial success. The profession won’t wear it I believe. (more…)
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KERRY GOULSTON. Vietnamese and Australian doctors learning together: reflecting on 20 years of collaboration
This is a story of friendship and support between doctors in Australia and Vietnam, originating some 20 years ago, which shows how modest beginnings have evolved into important and lasting relationships of mutual respect and learning with one of our increasingly important Asian neighbours.
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KERRY BREEN and DAVID WEISBROT – Adverse events in healthcare: How to resolve an impasse.
One of the biggest challenges of modern health care, especially care delivered in hospital, is to identify, investigate, respond to and, where possible, prevent the near misses and adverse events that have been consistently documented in many developed countries. (more…)
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ALEXANDER HOLDEN and HEIKO SPALLEK. We Must Fill the Hole in our Public Health Services: Why Doesn’t Medicare Cover the Mouth?
In Australia, the cost of visiting a GP can be completely covered by Medicare, with anyone being able to see a medical professional free of charge, regardless of their ability to pay privately. (more…)
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LESLEY RUSSELL. Tackling the Emergency Department crisis: Some “what if?” scenarios
The crisis in Emergency Departments is causing harm to patients and staff, and transformative health system re-design is urgently needed. (more…)
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JOHN DWYER. What a mess! Insurance for health care, both public and private, is increasingly dysfunctional with sensible and equitable solutions held hostage by “vested interests”. PART TWO
At least 50% of the money private health insurers pay out annually to those insured is absorbed by just 5% off their customers. Most of these patients have chronic medical problems and have multiple admissions per year .While private hospitals need bottoms on beds to be profitable, public hospitals and private insurers are desperately in need of a reduction in hospital admissions. Numerous strategies for achieving this are being floated but sensible reforms are difficult as those with vested interests in the status quo have undue control of government initiatives. (more…)
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GEORGIA BEHRENS. Future doctors demand climate change action now (Insight Plus 18-11-19)
THE MJA-Lancet Countdown released its much-awaited 2019 report on climate change and health in Australia on 14 November 2019. This report provides a critical update on how Australia is managing climate change, which the World Health Organization has acknowledged as “the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century”. The report’s message is clear: the time for action — by individuals, local groups, and at all levels of government — is now. (more…)
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JOHN DWYER. What a mess! Insurance for health care, both public and private, is increasingly dysfunctional with sensible and equitable solutions held hostage by “vested interests”. PART ONE
We Australians have for decades now made it clear that we want a health care system that delivers quality care in a timely manner with availability based on need not personal financial wellbeing. Increasingly it is obvious to all that the system should better fund programs to prevent illness not just treat it.These are the principles we wish to see Medicare embrace and we are willing to have our tax-dollars pay for the benefits. (more…)
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PETER SAINSBURY. Sunday environmental round up, 8 December 2019
With this year’s climate change Conference of the Parties (COP) getting underway this week in Madrid, the articles this week focus on climate change: the future of coal and renewables in China, problems with projects funded by rich nations in developing countries, climate tipping points, responses to climate deniers’ arguments, and counting and reducing emissions from industrial processes.
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PETER SAINSBURY. Health professionals stepping up to support action on climate change
Climate change is already causing injuries, illness and premature death. This is only going to get worse. Health professionals, individually and collectively, are taking action to highlight the health problems, including being arrested for blocking development of the Adani mine.
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The barbaric nature of the human condition
It was a right hook in the third round that sent the 26 year old boxer to the canvass. The crowd cheered with excitement; after all, this is what they had hoped to see. On the referee’s count of “five” the man struggled to his feet and was directed to the ring side doctor. That professional shook his arms looked at his pupils and asked if the man wanted to continue. “Yes”, he said, upon which he was allowed to return to the slaughter. Twenty-seconds later he was back on the canvass, 24 hours later he was dead. Numerous small blood vessels, torn asunder as his brain bounced back and forward inside its bony cage, bled and bled. All the intensive care staff could do was watch him die. (more…)
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JOHN MENADUE-The Private Health Insurance industry is a scam subsidised by taxpayers.
For over fifteen years I have been pointing to the failure of PHI both in terms of efficiency and equity. Not once have the executives of major firms or their lobbyists joined in a public discussion. They prefer to strong-arm ministers and officials in private. It’s a classic example of crony capitalism, using private influence to obtain public benefits. PHI is a scam. (more…)
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JOHN DWYER Australia’s opioid epidemic
The Opioid epidemic that has so devastated America is now well established in Australia. (more…)
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DAVID MORE. The #myHealthRecord Is A Major Failure Following A Long List Of Other Major System Failures From The Federal Government Over The Years.
I very recently conducted a poll on my blog following the latest over-done propaganda outburst from the Australian Digital Health Authority (ADHA) in their recent Annual Report. Here is what is showed. (more…)
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PETER SAINSBURY. Sunday environmental round up, 17 November 2019
Fire chiefs and health professionals stand up for action on climate change. Fly ash from coal burning causes major problems in Indonesia. The International Energy Agency identifies the main trends influencing energy supply over the next 20 years.
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ARTHUR CHESTERFIELD-EVANS. Government Inaction may be a significant cause of Australia’s World-Leading Cancer Rates
Australia has the highest rate for cancer according to the World Cancer Research Fund[1]. At 468 /100,000 we are 7% ahead of NZ (who have 438), 33% ahead of the US (352), 40% ahead of Canada (334), 47% ahead of the UK (319), 59% ahead of Sweden (295) and 89% ahead of Japan (248)[2]. It might also be noted that Australia has gone from a rate of 383 in 1982 to 468 in 2019, a 22% increase. (more…)