News Articles
Western Australia is experiencing its most severe flu season
Date of Posting: 12-06-2019
Western Australia's health minister says the state is suffering its most severe flu season on record with 15 deaths and 5777 infections so far this year. Western Australia is experiencing its most severe flu season on record with 15 deaths and Read More...
The shocking state of men's health in WA has been revealed
Date of Posting: 11-06-2019
The Western Australian government has rolled out a plan to improve the health of men as statistics reveal a grim picture. More than 77 per cent of men in Western Australia are overweight or obese and men are over-represented among victims of suici Read More...
A test for the human papillomavirus (HPV) replaced Pap smear testing
Date of Posting: 10-06-2019
Testing for human papilloma virus is helping to detect cancer-causing infections sooner than the previous Pap smear testing program, Melbourne researchers say. A major paradigm shift in cervical screening tests is resulting in earlier detection of Read More...
Sydneysiders have rallied in support of reproductive rights for women at home and abroad
Date of Posting: 10-06-2019
Hundreds have rallied in Sydney in support of reproductive rights in the United States and at home. Protesters brandished signs reading, "Abortion is healthcare", "Keep your filthy paws off my silky drawers" and "Ovary-act Read More...
The wait time for follow-up colonoscopies in bowel cancer detection needs to be addressed
Date of Posting: 10-06-2019
During Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, the head organisation of Australia's second deadliest cancer calls for a national guarantee to address diagnosis delays. The wait time for follow-up colonoscopies in bowel cancer detection has been labelled Read More...
A doctor who claimed "some women deserve to be raped" has had his suspension extended indefinitely
Date of Posting: 07-06-2019
A Melbourne doctor who posted online that "some women deserve to be raped" has been suspended indefinitely amid an investigation by Australia's health regulator. Christopher Kwan Chen Lee was in April found guilty of professional mis Read More...
APA warns against DIY rehab for knee surgery patients
Date of Posting: 07-06-2019
The Australian Physiotherapy Association has cautioned knee surgery patients against cheap DIY rehabilitation options, following a published article which the APA says misrepresented the findings of a Bond University study. The article, published Read More...
Health Check: what's the best way to sit?
Last Updated: 07-06-2019
Leon Straker, Curtin University Many people spend the majority of their waking hours sitting – at home, commuting and at work. Particularly when we’re sitting for long periods at a desk, there are a few things we sho Read More...
'Early warning' for hard to heal wounds
Last Updated: 07-06-2019
Some 500,000 Australians live with the daily burden of a wound that does not heal, but a risk assessment tool that provides an ‘early warning’ of which venous leg ulcer wounds need specialised treatment has been developed by QUT’s D Read More...
Your rejected severe arthritis or heart attack insurance claim could be valid
Date of Posting: 07-06-2019
If you have severe rheumatoid arthritis or have experienced a heart attack, your insurance claim could now be valid thanks to a decision by MLC to backdate the changes to outdated definitions. The Severe Rheumatoid Arthritis (SRA) definition will Read More...
What it's really like to grow old: challenged not threatened
Date of Posting: 07-06-2019
Enough talk about decline, disability, frailty and disease in advanced age – a new University of Auckland-led study suggests 85-plus New Zealanders view managing their own health as a matter of challenges and adaptation. With increasing numb Read More...
The gene therapy revolution is here. Medicine is scrambling to keep pace
Date of Posting: 06-06-2019
Elizabeth Finkel, La Trobe University Gene therapy – for so long something that belonged to the future – has just hit the streets. A couple of weeks back, you might have picked up a headline alerting us to the most e Read More...
Why Aboriginal voices need to be front and centre in the disability Royal Commission
Last Updated: 06-06-2019
John Gilroy, University of Sydney and Jennifer Smith-Merry, University of Sydney We welcome the recently announced Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. At the same time, the Read More...
Domestic and sexual violence in Australia reveals alarming figures
Date of Posting: 05-06-2019
A new report into domestic and sexual violence in Australia reveals alarming figures, proving many women remain at risk of being abused by their partners. Damning new data about Australia's rates of domestic and sexual violence reveal that one Read More...
Separated but not yet divorced Victorian women will soon be able to access IVF
Date of Posting: 04-06-2019
Separated but not yet divorced Victorian women will soon be able to access IVF without their former spouse's permission. Women separated from their husbands, but not divorced, will no longer have to get their estranged spouse's permission Read More...
Law backs doctors who prescribe opioids to the dying
Last Updated: 04-06-2019
Some doctors fear litigation and professional ruin if they are seen to have overprescribed opioids to terminally ill patients, according to a University of Queensland researcher. Palliative care expert Professor Geoffrey Mitchell said opioid overu Read More...
New ENs securing roles via expanded Manning Hospital initiative
Last Updated: 04-06-2019
Recognising that nurses are in high demand due to a skills shortage that stretches across Australia, Manning Base Hospital has added a second 26-week program for 2019 for its NSW Health Enrolled Nurse Transition Program. This means opportunities f Read More...
Strategies urgently needed to reverse unhealthy childhood eating patterns
Date of Posting: 03-06-2019
More than a third of what Australian children and adults eat and drink each day are unhealthy foods – which is up to three times higher than public health recommendations. Dietetics researchers at Flinders University are exploring solutions Read More...
Wellbeing Budget delivers only heartbreak for cochlear implant patients
Date of Posting: 03-06-2019
Despite surgery readily available to restore both their hearing and the life they once enjoyed, nearly 200 New Zealanders again had their hopes dashed today with no announcement of increased adult cochlear implant funding in the 2019 Budget. Read More...
Adults with diabetes now have greater access to a rapid-acting insulin
Date of Posting: 03-06-2019
Adults with diabetes will now have greater access to Fiasp, a fast-acting mealtime insulin, thanks to its listing on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Adults with diabetes now have greater access to a rapid-acting insulin which can be taken just Read More...
Pregnant women are being urged to avoid e-cigarettes and vapes
Date of Posting: 03-06-2019
An e-cigarette researcher is urging pregnant women to avoid e-cigarettes and vaping because of the lack of evidence suggesting it is safe to do so. Pregnant women are being urged to avoid e-cigarettes and vapes due to a lack of evidence about thei Read More...
Study reveals Australia's smoking suburb hotspots
Date of Posting: 31-05-2019
Residents taking a drag on Tasmania's north coast have sparked an unwanted title for Australia's worst suburbs when it comes to the number of people smoking. Neighbouring suburbs on the north coast of Tasmania have garnered an unwanted tit Read More...
Should health star ratings on pre-packaged foods be mandatory?
Date of Posting: 30-05-2019
Public health experts want Australia's food and drink health star ratings to become mandatory. Australian shoppers have embraced the nutrition guides, but they are only being displayed on around 30 per cent of foods.[subscribe] Most of thes Read More...
Education and Balance key to NZ Smokefree 2025
Date of Posting: 30-05-2019
Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ (ARFNZ) marks World Smoke Free Day tomorrow with a call for more education to the public on vaping and e-cigarettes. The Foundation stresses that the promotion of e-cigarettes being a healthier alternative to c Read More...
'Submarines' small enough to deliver medicine inside human body
Date of Posting: 30-05-2019
Cancers in the human body may one day be treated by tiny, self-propelled ‘micro-submarines’ delivering medicine to affected organs after UNSW Sydney chemical and biomedical engineers proved it was possible. In a paper published in Mate Read More...
UNSW survey finds most young Australians are not using condoms
Date of Posting: 30-05-2019
Many young Australians are having sex without using condoms, exposing themselves to the risk of contracting a sexually transmissible infection [STI]. UNSW’s National Debrief Survey found that 75% of people aged 15 to 29 who had sex partners Read More...
Access is top issue for Health Minister
Date of Posting: 30-05-2019
Australia’s peak body for rural, regional and remote health says boosting access to health services via telehealth and increased broadband connectivity, plus boosting the allied health workforce in those areas are key priorities for Australia&r Read More...
For some people, going to prison can mean better access to health care
Date of Posting: 30-05-2019
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare says prison clinics can greatly help people in prison take steps to improve their health. For some people, going to prison can mean better access to health care than on the outside.[subscribe] Most Read More...
Smoking is increasingly on the nose with Victorians
Date of Posting: 30-05-2019
Cigarette smoking rates have taken a dive in Victoria with plain packaging laws, public bans and advertising restrictions all having an impact. Smoking is increasingly on the nose with Victorians thanks to plain packaging, tobacco advertising laws Read More...
An extra 400,000 flu shots ordered to meet demand
Date of Posting: 29-05-2019
A record number of Australians are getting vaccinated against the flu, prompting one company to order an extra 400,000 shots to give to GPs and pharmacies. An extra 400,000 doses of the flu shot are on their way to Australia to help meet a growing Read More...
Patient safety at Hobart's main hospital is being severely and routinely compromised
Date of Posting: 29-05-2019
Tasmania's four major hospitals are failing to meet growing demand in their emergency departments, a scathing new auditor-general's report has found. Patient safety at Hobart's main hospital is being severely and routinely compromised, Read More...
New study shows bowel cancer on the rise in younger Australians
Date of Posting: 29-05-2019
The rate of bowel cancer is on the rise in Australians under the age of 50, prompting a call for a change in screening guidelines for the deadly disease. Bowel cancer has long been linked to older people, but a new study has shown a significant ri Read More...
An early start to the cold and flu season has taken a heavy toll on blood donations
Date of Posting: 28-05-2019
The Red Cross urgently needs almost 6000 people to give blood over the next two weeks, with cold and flu cases hitting blood stocks hard. An early start to the cold and flu season has taken a heavy toll on blood donations, with the Red Cross issui Read More...
Older Australians are being urged to get the pneumonia vaccine
Date of Posting: 28-05-2019
Australians over the age of 65 or at high risk of infection are being urged to become immunised against pneumonia, one of the top 10 killers in the country. Older Australians are being urged to get the pneumonia vaccine, in a bid to boost immunisa Read More...
The death toll from flu in South Australia has climbed to 35
Date of Posting: 27-05-2019
Health authorities say the flu has claimed 35 lives in South Australia this year, with more than ten times the number of cases than the same time in 2018. The death toll from flu in South Australia has climbed to 35 this year as the total number o Read More...
Making a jump from Nurse to Leader
Last Updated: 27-05-2019
Not all nurses and midwives begin their career with thoughts of becoming a leader. However, becoming a Unit Manager or higher, is a step on the clinical ladder that an increasing number hope to achieve. The question facing most aspiring leaders is Read More...
Aboriginal Australians want care after brain injury. But it must consider their cultural needs
Last Updated: 24-05-2019
Beth Armstrong, Edith Cowan University and Juli Coffin, Telethon Kids Institute Aboriginal Australians continue to face serious health challenges. Life expectancy is about 10.7 years less for Indigenous Australians than non-Indigenous Austra Read More...
Latest HIV data shows continued progress towards ending HIV
Date of Posting: 24-05-2019
The latest data showing a continued decline in HIV transmission rates in NSW has been welcomed by the state’s leading HIV prevention and HIV support organisation, ACON. The NSW HIV Strategy Data Report – Quarter 1 shows that in the fir Read More...
Study finds link between climate and childhood gastro
Date of Posting: 24-05-2019
Extreme weather is linked to childhood gastro and better protections are needed, a new global study from The Australian National University (ANU) has found. The study found global changes in weather, including in Australia, were linked to ca Read More...
Victoria's leading public oral health agency is rolling out a pilot program to prevent oral cancers
Date of Posting: 23-05-2019
As three people on average die from oral cancer in Victoria each week, an oral health agency is on a mission to trial a program to prevent the disease. Victoria's leading public oral health agency is rolling out a pilot program to prevent oral Read More...
