News Articles
It's time to lift the restrictions on medical abortion in Australia
Last Updated: 10-04-2019
Caroline de Costa, James Cook University Over the past thirteen years, many Australian women have used the drug mifepristone (RU486) to bring about a medical abortion. Rather than undergoing a surgical abortion in a clinic or ho Read More...
Suicide rates in suicidal people discharged from hospital down 50%
Date of Posting: 10-04-2019
A new study by UNSW Sydney researchers has explored half a century of research into the suicide rates of people discharged from hospital after they presented with suicidal thoughts or behaviours. The rates of suicide in people who are discharged f Read More...
Inflammation linked to chemical imbalance in schizophrenia
Date of Posting: 10-04-2019
A study published in Molecular Psychiatry has identified changes in inflammation-related biochemical pathways in schizophrenia that interfere with proper brain nerve cell communication. Researchers have found the first direct evidence in support of i Read More...
An Adelaide Foodland store has recalled a range of hot cross buns amid a contamination issue
Date of Posting: 10-04-2019
Parts of a small calculator have been found in hot cross buns sold at an Adelaide supermarket, prompting an urgent recall. The recall was instigated after a customer found plastic in the products sold through the Pasadena Foodland store in Adelaid Read More...
VicHealth wants crackdown on alcohol Influencers
Date of Posting: 09-04-2019
VicHealth has says there needs to be a crack down on social media influencers advertising alcoholic brands without revealing they are being paid to do so. It's time to call last drinks on 'influencers' using social media to sell cockta Read More...
Voluntary assisted dying will soon be legal in Victoria, and this is what you need to know
Last Updated: 09-04-2019
Courtney Hempton, Monash University The Voluntary Assisted Dying Act 2017 (Vic) comes into effect on June 19, making Victoria the first state in Australia to allow “voluntary assisted dying”. The legislation was pass Read More...
Call for diversity education to improve LGBTIQ physio care
Date of Posting: 09-04-2019
Diversity training for physiotherapists could help overcome care concerns among LGBTIQ+ clients, a University of Queensland study has found. Physiotherapist and UQ School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences PhD student Megan Ross said the study Read More...
Pollen detectives work to predict asthma and hay fever
Date of Posting: 09-04-2019
The presence of different strains of grass pollen in the atmosphere can help predict when hay fever and asthma could strike, a study involving a University of Queensland researcher has found. School of Public Health Associate Professor Nicholas Os Read More...
Under the influence: promotion of alcoholic drinks rife on social media
Date of Posting: 09-04-2019
New research from health promotion foundation VicHealth has revealed the murky nature of alcohol promotion on social media, with a lack of disclosed sponsorship common among Australia’s top ‘influencers’. The research looke Read More...
Liver cancer deaths and diagnosis rates have climbed over the past three decades
Date of Posting: 09-04-2019
Liver cancer deaths and diagnosis rates have climbed over the past three decades, prompting calls for better screening programs for high risk Australians. The rate of liver cancer deaths and diagnoses has increased substantially in the past three Read More...
With 8.2 years to treatment, we need to reduce the anxious wait
Date of Posting: 08-04-2019
A new survey released today by NPS MedicineWise shows that most Australians underestimate how long it typically takes for someone with an anxiety disorder to seek and receive help. According to the new YouGov Galaxy survey*, more than two in three Read More...
Could mum's bacteria help c-section babies?
Date of Posting: 08-04-2019
In what’s believed to be a world-first, a randomised, controlled study to investigate the role of mothers’ bacteria in babies’ early health is about to start at New Zealand’s Liggins Institute. Babies born by caesarean-sect Read More...
Counsellor convicted for a second time, fined $25,000 for claiming to be a psychologist
Date of Posting: 08-04-2019
A New South Wales court has convicted a counsellor, Mr David Citer, of claiming to be a registered psychologist and unlawfully using the protected title ‘psychologist’. The court fined Mr Citer $25,000.[subscribe] Mr Citer has never Read More...
Trial succeeds at drastically reducing two highly infectious skin diseases
Date of Posting: 08-04-2019
Australian, Solomon Islands and British researchers have succeeded in simultaneously treating two debilitating skin diseases – scabies and impetigo – which infect hundreds of millions of people, mostly in tropical countries.[subscribe] Read More...
A clinical trial of a brain implant will soon begin in Melbourne
Date of Posting: 08-04-2019
The first human trial of a brain implant will soon begin in Melbourne, with researchers hopeful it could help severely paralysed patients communicate again. Five Australians will have a device the size of a small paperclip implanted in their brain Read More...
Two unvaccinated Australian tourists have sparked a measles alert in NSW
Date of Posting: 08-04-2019
A measles alert has been issued after unvaccinated travellers caught the disease in Asia and then passed through the Gold Coast and several NSW towns. Two unvaccinated Australian tourists have sparked a measles alert in the region with the worst i Read More...
BCNA welcomes labor's pledge to reduce the financial toxicity of cancer
Date of Posting: 05-04-2019
Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA) welcomes the Federal Opposition’s pledge to reduce out-of-pocket costs for Australians with cancer. The $2.3 billion Medicare Cancer Plan announced by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten in his Budget reply Read More...
Youth Week: supporting Aussie teens with incontinence
Date of Posting: 05-04-2019
Adolescence can be awkward, complicated and sometimes confusing, so imagine adding bladder and bowel problems into the mix. This is the reality for up to 60,000 Australian teenagers who experience incontinence.¹ It’s a health issue that Read More...
HIV self-testing device becomes available as latest NSW HIV data is released
Date of Posting: 05-04-2019
The state’s leading HIV prevention and support organisation, ACON, has welcomed the release of the latest HIV surveillance figures for NSW showing a decline in HIV notifications in 2018. The data comes as a new HIV self-testing device becomes a Read More...
$4 million to tackle Australia's biggest killers
Date of Posting: 05-04-2019
The Heart Foundation has today welcomed the announcement by Minister for Health, Greg Hunt, to invest a further $4 million to tackle two of Australia’s biggest killers – heart disease and stroke. “Minister Hunt has clearly placed Read More...
State health ministers must address emergency ward wait times
Last Updated: 04-04-2019
State health ministers must demand real-time reports on how long people are waiting in emergency departments, the body that trains emergency doctors says. State health ministers don't understand how bad things are in public hospitals because m Read More...
Medicinal cannabis glasshouses in Queensland has been approved by the federal government
Date of Posting: 04-04-2019
A $450 million project to build one of the world's largest medicinal cannabis glasshouses in Queensland has been approved by the federal government. The federal government has approved a giant medicinal cannabis glasshouse project in Queenslan Read More...
New research has found that illicit drug use can cause fatal stroke to young Aussies
Date of Posting: 04-04-2019
One-in-five fatal strokes suffered by Australians aged 15 to 44 years involved 'uppers' or psycho-stimulant use, new research has found. Dying from a stroke probably isn't the first danger most young Australians associate with illicit Read More...
Landmark trans and gender diverse health blueprint released
Date of Posting: 03-04-2019
A new health strategy released by NSW’s leading LGBTQ health organisation ACON aims to address key health issues and barriers experienced by trans and gender diverse (TGD) people. Launched today at NSW Parliament House in the week of Trans D Read More...
Authorities warned about wild mushroom poisonings in NSW
Date of Posting: 03-04-2019
The NSW Poisons Information Centre says eight people were admitted to hospital with wild mushroom poisoning in just one week. At least eight people in NSW have been admitted to hospital after being poisoned by wild mushrooms, prompting a warning f Read More...
Budget's health funding welcome but more is needed for pharmacy
Date of Posting: 03-04-2019
The government’s commitment to pharmacy in tonight’s 2019-20 Federal Budget through the extension of the AHI fee and reduced Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) wait times is welcomed by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA). Read More...
Report shows stark reality of Victoria's mental health system
Date of Posting: 03-04-2019
Only about one-third of people in Victoria who need clinical mental health care receive it in the public system, and Victoria spends the least per capita than any other State or Territory. The recently released report ‘Access To Mental Read More...
Few benefits for rural health in Federal Budget
Last Updated: 03-04-2019
The peak national body for rural health has welcomed $62m to train doctors in rural generalist practice, but says tonight’s budget has largely failed to address a critical shortage of allied health professionals for 7 million people living outs Read More...
$7M research funding to pilot new models of care for brain disorders in Australia
Date of Posting: 03-04-2019
2 April 2019: The 2019 Federal Budget has delivered a win for people living with brain disorders in Australia, with a $7million funding boost for research aimed at developing improved models of care. The clinical and research translation pro Read More...
Health experts have called for a unified approach to tackling obesity
Date of Posting: 02-04-2019
As many areas of Australia deal with higher obesity rates, health experts continue to push for a national approach in tackling the epidemic. Health experts have called for a unified approach to tackling obesity as areas of Australia lag behind in Read More...
Healing the heartbreak of stillbirth and newborn death
Date of Posting: 02-04-2019
Parents who experience stillbirth or neonatal death will be offered “the best possible care in the worst possible circumstance”, thanks to guidelines developed by the Stillbirth Centre of Research Excellence and The University of Queensla Read More...
Asthma and flu a risky combination - get immunised
Date of Posting: 02-04-2019
Even if your asthma is well managed, you are at higher risk of complications if you catch influenza (flu). For example, adults and children with asthma are more likely to develop pneumonia after getting sick with the flu than people who do not hav Read More...
Equity the priority for the Federal Budget
Date of Posting: 02-04-2019
The Australian Health Care Reform Alliance (AHCRA) today called on the Federal Government to make health equity the first priority in the health portfolio in tomorrow’s Federal Budget. AHCRA is a coalition of health groups and individuals wo Read More...
A stem cell trial in Victoria to aid stroke patients
Date of Posting: 02-04-2019
A world-first trial is underway in Victoria to use stem cell infusions to possibly reduce a stroke patient's brain injury and improve their recovery. When Kevin Baird was rushed to a Melbourne hospital after having a stroke, he didn't expe Read More...
Why are we losing so many Indigenous children to suicide?
Last Updated: 01-04-2019
Over the past five years, one in every four children who died by suicide in Australia was Indigenous. The recent child and youth suicides in our communities are a tragedy. Five young Indigenous Queenslanders have taken their lives this mont Read More...
This is what postnatal depression really feels like
Last Updated: 01-04-2019
Motherhood can be a source of joy, but it can also pose difficulties and challenges – particularly, in the postnatal period. It is a time when some mothers’ emotional and physical endurance is pushed to the limit. Abo Read More...
Making more drugs available 'over the counter' a win-win for public and the healthcare system
Last Updated: 01-04-2019
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is currently looking to expand the list of medicines available “over the counter” – that is, via a pharmacist without a prescription. If these changes get off the ground, we cou Read More...
Record expected to be broken again as NSW kids get crunching
Date of Posting: 01-04-2019
Only around 5% of children in NSW eat enough vegetables. In an effort to change this statistic, primary schools across NSW will be coming together to encourage students and their families to eat more vegetables with Vegetable Week & The Big Ve Read More...
Don't wait for a crisis - start planning your aged care now
Last Updated: 01-04-2019
Alison Rahn, Western Sydney University Most Australians prefer to die at home but few adequately plan for it. Consequently, just one in seven dies at home. Some say they will make plans “when the need arises”. But what if Read More...
Going to sleep on either side in late pregnancy more than halves stillbirth risk
Date of Posting: 01-04-2019
Pregnant women can now rest easier – on their side. A University of Auckland-led international study published today in a prestigious Lancet group journal provides the strongest evidence yet that by going to sleep on either side in the last thr Read More...
