News Articles
Chronic patients get most relief in medicine cost cut
Date of Posting: 21-03-2025
Australians with chronic conditions could save more than $80 a year as plans to cut prescription medicine costs receive bipartisan support. But threats from big US pharmaceutical companies could throw a spanner in the works.[subscribe] The maxi Read More...
Caffeine, fruit and fibre 'may lower risk of tinnitus'
Date of Posting: 20-03-2025
Eating a diet rich in fruit, fibre, dairy and caffeine may lower the risk of suffering tinnitus, research suggests. Tinnitus refers to noises that do not come from an outside source, and includes ringing in the ears or buzzing, whooshing or hummin Read More...
Hundreds of medicines to cost less in $689m plan
Date of Posting: 20-03-2025
PATIENTS' PRESCRIPTION COSTS CAPPED UNDER LABOR PLAN * Australians buying prescription medicines listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme will pay no more than $25 for each script from January 1, if Labor is re-elected[subscribe] * The Read More...
Indigenous medicos nursing First Peoples back to health
Date of Posting: 20-03-2025
Lila Pigliafiori knows the power of having an Indigenous healthcare provider in community. Her mother was a nurse and Aboriginal health worker, and also inspiration for herself to enter the field.[subscribe] Now as a clinical nurse consultant i Read More...
Long waits at hospitals amid record ambulance demand
Last Updated: 19-03-2025
Increasing numbers of people seeking emergency treatment in Australia's largest public health system are leaving before they receive care, while those undergoing elective surgeries are waiting longer than they should. More than 100,000 patient Read More...
Higher bar to prove stress, burnout in compo overhaul
Date of Posting: 19-03-2025
Stressed, bullied and burnt-out workers are being blamed for an unsustainable burden on a compensation scheme designed for people who lose limbs or break bones on the job. Those claiming psychological injuries from bullying or harassment in the wo Read More...
Plea to help unlock common condition's genetic secrets
Date of Posting: 18-03-2025
Krish Waje has spent most of her life in fight-or-flight mode. That's how she describes living with anxiety, Australia's most common mental health condition which affects some 3.4 million people aged 16 to 84.[subscribe] "You'r Read More...
Public mental health system 'overwhelmed' as staff quit
Date of Posting: 18-03-2025
An underfunded mental health system "driven by crisis" has been highlighted as a stand-off over psychiatrists' pay reaches the courtroom. Successive NSW governments have failed to address a retention crisis being fuelled by better pa Read More...
Umpire asked to intervene in mental health doctor fight
Date of Posting: 17-03-2025
A battle involving overworked psychiatrists and an underfunded mental health system will come to a head amid calls for urgent action. NSW's acute mental health system has been in turmoil in recent months after 62 public psychiatrists quit and Read More...
Better value for patients in bid to fix transparency
Date of Posting: 17-03-2025
Voters are being offered a better understanding of their medical bills, with a promise to improve transparency. Patients across Australia can pay hundreds more than their neighbours for the same procedure, with fees varying widely from specialist Read More...
IVF, contraception drugs cheaper as birth rate dips
Date of Posting: 16-03-2025
A new treatment for a common painful condition and two other drugs will be made cheaper to improve thousands of Australian women's lives. About 8500 Australian women are expected to benefit annually when Ryeqo is listed on the pharmaceutical b Read More...
Measles cases rise in US as outbreak spreads
Date of Posting: 16-03-2025
Measles cases in Texas and New Mexico have risen to 294, surpassing all US cases recorded in 2024, as an outbreak that began in late January in West Texas spreads. The US reported 285 total infections last year, based on data from the US Centers f Read More...
Dietitians push nutrition as weight loss drugs surge
Date of Posting: 16-03-2025
Australian doctors who prescribe weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic should be obliged to refer the patient to dieticians at the same time, the nutrition industry's peak body says. Any prescription of such medication must happen alongside a refe Read More...
Toddler's death prompts probe into hospital's safety
Date of Posting: 14-03-2025
A controversial privately run public hospital will face a parliamentary probe after critical failings led to the death of a toddler. Two-year-old Joe Massa collapsed and died in September after he and his parents waited three hours in the emergenc Read More...
'Forgotten' disability workers rally for pay boost
Date of Posting: 14-03-2025
Music from a loud brass band and union chants echoed through the top end of town as "forgotten" workers rallied for a pay boost. Dozens of disability support workers marched through Melbourne's city streets on Thursday to draw attent Read More...
Being married triples obesity risk in men
Last Updated: 13-03-2025
Being married triples the risk of obesity in men, new research suggests. Experts found the risks of being overweight increase for both sexes when married, but appear to be particularly acute for men.[subscribe] The research will be presented at Read More...
World-first discharge for artificial heart patient
Date of Posting: 13-03-2025
Almost two decades after his father died from heart failure, Daniel Timms has helped to transform treatment for patients across the globe. His invention, the BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart, recently marked an important milestone when an Australian Read More...
Genes linked to smoking in pregnancy identified
Date of Posting: 12-03-2025
British researchers have identified a genetic link to smoking in pregnancy. The study also showed men experience more long-lasting effects when their mother smokes while pregnant than women - including dying younger if they go on to smoke themselv Read More...
WHO starts slimming down in response to US cuts
Date of Posting: 12-03-2025
The World Health Organisation has begun a process of fixing new priorities and announced a one-year limit on staff contracts, an internal memo shows, as it aims to make the UN agency more sustainable after the US withdrawal. The memo, dated March Read More...
COVID response failed human rights amid fresh warning
Date of Posting: 11-03-2025
Australians' human rights were overlooked in governmental COVID-19 responses, a new report reveals, with experts saying the country isn't prepared for its next health emergency. Domestic violence victims, renters, casual workers and at-ris Read More...
China targets obesity as half of all adults overweight
Date of Posting: 10-03-2025
The Chinese government is aiming to tackle obesity among its population of 1.4 billion, including the more than 50 per cent of adults who are overweight. Some "comrades" find it difficult to control their weight, are overweight and even Read More...
Lasting COVID effects on UK wellbeing detailed by data
Date of Posting: 10-03-2025
People's experiences of poor health and loneliness in the UK have not improved five years on from the first COVID-19 lockdown, new figures suggest, with a charity warning "lasting" effects of the pandemic are continuing to leave "m Read More...
Endometriosis - a life sentence 'no man' would tolerate
Date of Posting: 09-03-2025
It's not just a period and the pain isn't normal - endometriosis leaves one in seven women in often excruciating pain and threatens their work, their health and their fertility. But all too often it is overlooked, misdiagnosed or not taken Read More...
US measles outbreak now in the hundreds of cases
Date of Posting: 09-03-2025
A historic measles outbreak in West Texas is just short of 200 cases, Texas state health officials say while the number of cases in neighbouring New Mexico has tripled to 30. Most of the cases across both states are in people younger than 18 and p Read More...
Swapping butter for plant oils may cut early death risk
Date of Posting: 09-03-2025
Swapping butter for canola or olive oil could slash the risk of an early death, new US research suggests. Experts examined data for more than 221,000 adults, who were followed up for 30 to 50 years, and found butter actually seemed to drive up the Read More...
Healthier sperm linked to longer life expectancy
Date of Posting: 06-03-2025
Men with the best quality sperm live two to three years longer than those with the lowest quality, according to a study. Testing semen in this way could one day be used to predict and prevent future health problems, researchers suggest.[subscribe] Read More...
Medications out of reach for women as living costs bite
Date of Posting: 06-03-2025
Women are twice as likely as men to say they cannot afford a prescription for themselves or their families, data reveals as pharmacists urge greater funding to help patients access life-saving medication. One in four women could not afford a scrip Read More...
Alarm at rise in suicide rate among Indigenous people
Date of Posting: 06-03-2025
The true scale of an "alarming" rise in Indigenous Australians dying by suicide may still be under-reported, with concerns about gaps in data and barriers to culturally safe care. Some 27 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people died Read More...
Lifting weights can help older people tackle insomnia
Date of Posting: 05-03-2025
Lifting weights helps older people beat insomnia, research suggests. Experts found that resistance or muscle-strengthening exercises - such as lifting dumbbells or using gym equipment - helped cut sleeplessness.[subscribe] Taking aerobic exerci Read More...
Health alert as mosquito virus spreads in three states
Date of Posting: 05-03-2025
A deadly mosquito-borne virus is spreading across three states, with a second confirmed case identified in Victoria. Japanese encephalitis has infected a second northern Victorian resident this mosquito season, Chief Health Officer Tarun Weeamanth Read More...
HIV risk for clients of cosmetic clinic using vet gear
Date of Posting: 05-03-2025
Clients of a beauty clinic are being urged to test for serious blood-borne viruses including HIV after health officials uncovered the use of vet equipment and other alleged malpractice. The warning to clients of the Ketthip Beauty Clinic in Sydney Read More...
'Monumental social failure': global obesity rates soar
Date of Posting: 04-03-2025
Rates of obesity and overweight are spiralling due to a "monumental societal failure" to tackle the problem, with more than half of adults and almost a third of children and young people set to be affected by 2050, according to a new study. Read More...
A child dies of Ebola in Uganda, raising concern
Date of Posting: 03-03-2025
A four-year-old child has become the second person to die of Ebola in Uganda, in a setback for health officials who had hoped for a quick end to the outbreak that began at the end of January. The child had been hospitalised at the main referral fa Read More...
Medicare clinics vow: 20 minute drive or less from care
Date of Posting: 03-03-2025
Most Australians could be living within 20 minutes of a bulk billing urgent care clinic, under a federal Labor pre-election promise. The government has vowed to open an extra 50 clinics by the end of June 2026 if it secures a second term, with the Read More...
Sniffer dogs deployed as pill testing trial begins
Date of Posting: 02-03-2025
Festival goers using NSW's first pill testing service won't be subjected to sniffer dog searches but that doesn't apply to people on their way to have their substances checked. Authorities warn taking drugs remains illegal and police h Read More...
Pathway eases the stress for young people finding jobs
Date of Posting: 02-03-2025
Tailored work and study support can improve the mental health of young people and get them into jobs and university, despite concerns related stress has a negative impact. One in five family members are concerned pressure from work or study has a Read More...
Careers, education casualties of domestic violence
Date of Posting: 28-02-2025
Domestic violence must be recognised as a workplace and university issue, with victim-survivors experiencing a lifetime drop in earnings, employment and education. That's according to a report on the financial damage perpetrators unleash on wo Read More...
Measles spreading locally as cases spark exposure alert
Date of Posting: 28-02-2025
Measles is spreading locally within Australia after two people caught the highly contagious viral infection without travelling overseas. Two people likely acquired measles in metropolitan Melbourne as they had no history of overseas travel or know Read More...
Private health premiums to rise as hospitals cry poor
Last Updated: 27-02-2025
Millions of Australians will soon be paying more for private health cover following the approval of premium increases for insurers, who say the rise is as low as they can go. The federal government has signed off on an average industry premium inc Read More...
AI can use eye scans to predict kidney disease risk
Date of Posting: 27-02-2025
Artificial intelligence (AI) can predict whether someone with type 2 diabetes will soon develop kidney disease based on changes in their eye scans, according to a study. People with diabetes should be offered eye checks every one to two years wher Read More...
