News Articles
Incest fears after sperm donor's 200-plus visits
Last Updated: 04-07-2024
A lack of regulation at Queensland's fertility clinics may have led to a donor fathering hundreds of children, sparking incest fears. An investigation into the state's assisted reproductive technology providers has also revealed claims of Read More...
Young people sadder, lonelier since social media onset
Last Updated: 04-07-2024
Youth mental health levels used to be relatively stable until something changed about a decade ago. After 2012, as some of the most popular global social media platforms were taking off, young Australians began reporting a sharp drop in mental wel Read More...
Indigenous kids 'suffering in silence' with ear disease
Date of Posting: 04-07-2024
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children suffer some of the highest rates of middle ear infections in the world. The disease is going undetected among 26 per cent of First Nations children, while one-in five live with undiagnosed hearing los Read More...
Warning opioid-laced cocaine could be a killer
Date of Posting: 02-07-2024
A white powder sold as cocaine has been laced with a deadly opioid 100 times more potent than heroin. The Department of Health issued an urgent warning on Tuesday to Victorians over the white powder being sold in Melbourne.[subscribe] The warni Read More...
Body camera trial for hospital security as attacks soar
Date of Posting: 02-07-2024
Security staff at nine hospitals will trial body-worn cameras to see if they can play a role in reducing aggression at health facilities. The year-long trial is still being planned and no start date has been set, while security and privacy policie Read More...
Longer life expectancy brings growing disease burden
Date of Posting: 02-07-2024
Australians are living longer compared to 20 years ago but are spending more time battling health conditions. A flagship study run by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare also found no improvement in First Nations infant and child death Read More...
More hip-pocket help, less vaping in new financial year
Date of Posting: 30-06-2024
Tax cuts, energy bill relief and an increase in the minimum wage are among the raft of mid-year changes set to kick in for Australians. Every taxpayer will keep a little more of what they earn from Monday as the long-planned stage three tax cuts k Read More...
Family's close call after indoor barbecue gas poisoning
Date of Posting: 30-06-2024
A family of five in western Sydney are lucky to be alive after almost succumbing to carbon monoxide poisoning from an outdoor barbecue brought inside to use as a heater. Emergency crews rushed three adults and a child to hospital after the family Read More...
Aust expert backs weight-loss drugs for obese teens
Date of Posting: 30-06-2024
There is "growing evidence" that weight-loss drugs could be effective in treating severely obese teenagers, an expert has said. The medication acts "in exactly the same way" in younger patients as it does in adults, and while n Read More...
Pregnant pause as glitch causes baby due date errors
Date of Posting: 28-06-2024
More than 1700 pregnant women's due dates were incorrectly recorded by South Australia's health department, prompting an independent review. SA Health says a technical fault between November 2023 and June 2024 affected the estimated date o Read More...
Hospital staffer certified deaths 'outside the law'
Date of Posting: 28-06-2024
Deaths at a major hospital were incorrectly certified by an experienced former staffer who acted outside the law and signed off on patients he hadn't seen, a review has found. Tasmania's Launceston General Hospital was the subject of a rev Read More...
Sights set on cataract surgery for Indigenous people
Date of Posting: 28-06-2024
Ian Delaney was struggling with everyday life as his vision deteriorated. "In my right eye everything was very blurry," said the 70-year-old Quandamooka man.[subscribe] "Not having clear vision was a problem making simple things Read More...
University study reveals surprising results about telehealth consults
Date of Posting: 28-06-2024
A new study led by Monash University has revealed patients are surprisingly happy with telehealth consults for a range of health services, including allied health. [subscribe] Many patients perceived the relationships developed with practitioners Read More...
Indigenous woman makes history with speech therapy qualification
Date of Posting: 28-06-2024
Having set her sights on addressing numerous healthcare challenges in the Northern Territory,Teegan Wattam has now become the first First Nations graduate to receive a Bachelor of Health Science/Master of Speech and Language Therapy at Charles Darwin Read More...
Nurses, midwives to pocket more in major pay win
Date of Posting: 27-06-2024
Victorian nurses and midwives have scored massive wage increases that will boost some pay packets by $600 a week on top of more than 70 improvements to allowances and penalties. Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation members in Melbourne and Read More...
Long wait for aged-care bed, NDIS places clog hospitals
Date of Posting: 27-06-2024
A lack of federal support has been blamed for leaving thousands of people languishing in hospital beds with nowhere else to go amid a growing public spat between NSW and the Commonwealth over service funding. A statewide shortage of NDIS placement Read More...
Nurses to vote on revised pay deal
Date of Posting: 26-06-2024
The looming threat of more hospital beds closing could be brought to a halt as Victorian nurses and midwives vote on a revised pay offer. Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation members will meet on Wednesday in Melbourne and eight regional si Read More...
Smoke settles on vape ban as major hurdle cleared
Date of Posting: 26-06-2024
A revolutionary vape ban has cleared a major hurdle, with the sale of e-cigarettes restricted to pharmacies as part of a government crackdown on recreational smoking. Pharmacists will be able to sell vapes with limited nicotine content over the co Read More...
Fresh bid to aid Aussies with neurological conditions
Date of Posting: 25-06-2024
Improved care for millions of Australians suffering debilitating neurological conditions will be the focus of a national summit on the issue. Neurological Alliance Australia is holding the event at Parliament House, in Canberra, on Tuesday and aim Read More...
Pharmacy lobby blasts plan for chemists to sell vapes
Date of Posting: 25-06-2024
Vapes will be sold only through pharmacies with people under 18 banned from buying them unless they have a prescription in a move that has been slammed by the healthcare professionals' peak body. The federal government cut a deal with the Gree Read More...
Nurses say 15 pct pay rise will not hit patient pockets
Date of Posting: 25-06-2024
A major pay rise for NSW nurses is possible without hurting the state budget by using billions of dollars in untapped federal funds, a union says. Inaccurate and inefficient hospital reporting has blocked access to $3 billion in commonwealth fundi Read More...
New Zealand to fund more cancer treatments
Date of Posting: 24-06-2024
The New Zealand government has cauterised a broken election promise, funding cancer drugs that were overlooked in last month's budget. Cancer patients were left seething by the coalition's first budget given the National party promised to Read More...
Nurse, midwife pay deal could 'rebuild health system
Date of Posting: 23-06-2024
A new wage deal for Victorian nurses and midwives could offer a stable foundation for the state's struggling health system, the union says. Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation members will vote on a 28.5 per cent wage increase over fou Read More...
Mass bird-cull ordered to stop flu at second NSW farm
Date of Posting: 23-06-2024
Avian influenza has been detected on a second poultry farm in the Hawkesbury district biosecurity control zone, northwest of Sydney. The CSIRO's Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness confirmed a positive result for the H7N8 strain at the Read More...
Videos helping youth go vape-free for health, Country
Date of Posting: 23-06-2024
Vaping is a massive problem in the region where Danny Allende works, and although young Indigenous people are statistically more likely to take it up, he says it's a practice that doesn't discriminate. Mr Allende is the manager of Na Joome Read More...
How mindfulness and better sleep are interlinked
Date of Posting: 21-06-2024
Sleep quality deeply affects daily functioning and health, yet many struggle to shut down at night and truly rest. Research reveals that nearly 39% of Australians frequently struggle with sleep often due to stress, anxiety and life pressures. Mind Read More...
Doctor ban lifted despite abortion patient's death
Date of Posting: 20-06-2024
A Melbourne doctor whose women's health clinic is linked to the death of a patient following an abortion has won a battle to continue practising medicine. Michelle Kenney had her medical licence suspended in May after Hampton Park Women's Read More...
Four-year wait for general dental treatment
Date of Posting: 20-06-2024
About 15,000 adults are waiting for general dental care in Tasmania - the state with the worst rate of tooth loss in the country. And the median wait time for the group was almost four years, according to a state audit office report examining publ Read More...
Hospital set for AI medical scans in 'Australian first'
Date of Posting: 20-06-2024
A Queensland public hospital is set to use artificial intelligence for medical scans, in what has been hailed as an Australian first. Queensland Premier Steven Miles backed the technology's use in health care after Gold Coast University Hospit Read More...
Bird flu misinformation spreading faster than virus
Date of Posting: 19-06-2024
Social media users are over-egging claims about the impacts of bird flu outbreaks in Australia and overseas, experts say. Six Victorian poultry farms have detected cases of avian influenza, sparking fears of egg shortages and mass bird cullings.[s Read More...
How bra fittings are helping save rural women's lives
Date of Posting: 19-06-2024
Not far from yacht clubs, shimmering beaches and five star resorts, a homeless woman had sought shelter from the summer heat and humidity. Crisis counsellor Jane Holmes found her beneath the Sundale Bridge on Queensland's Gold Coast, in agony. Read More...
Infection treatment advance to save thousands of lives
Date of Posting: 19-06-2024
An infected wisdom tooth nearly killed Caitlin Alsop when it deteriorated into a "mystery" illness. She was home alone and thought she'd bitten her tongue when her mouth worsened with swelling and pain.[subscribe] "I was worr Read More...
Reimagining Indigenous Healthcare: Dr. Paul Saunders' Educational Mission
Last Updated: 18-06-2024
Dr. Paul Saunders, a Biripi man, is a Western Sydney Aboriginal scholar. He holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) as well as a Master of Public Health (MPH). He is currently pursuing a PhD in Medical Education at Western Sydney Read More...
Fifth case of leprosy reported this year
Date of Posting: 14-06-2024
A person has been diagnosed with leprosy in the Northern Territory - the fifth case reported in Australia so far this year. It is the first confirmed case of the relatively rare but curable disease in the NT since 2021, the NT Health Department sa Read More...
South Africa reports second monkeypox death in days
Date of Posting: 14-06-2024
A second person has died from the viral infection monkeypox in South Africa, the health ministry says, less than 24 hours after it announced the first death. The second person who died was a 38-year-old man, the health ministry said on Thursday.[s Read More...
'Scary': move to crack the backs of babies sparks alarm
Date of Posting: 14-06-2024
Doctors have slammed a controversial decision to allow babies to undergo chiropractic treatment on their spines, labelling the move "scary" amid a chorus of concern. Health Minister Mark Butler is writing to Australia's chiropractic Read More...
Hysterectomies fall as options for heavy periods grow
Date of Posting: 13-06-2024
Hysterectomy rates have fallen over the past eight years, as less-invasive alternatives grow in use, according to national health data. More than 24,000 women had a hysterectomy for non-cancer reasons in 2021-22 - a 20 per cent decline from 2014-1 Read More...
Doctors urge early checks as endometrial cancer on rise
Date of Posting: 13-06-2024
Doctors at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane, where about 200 women are treated for endometrial cancer each year, say they're alarmed at the rise in the disease. More than 3000 cases of endometrial cancer were diagnosed in Australia las Read More...
WHO confirms human case of bird flu in India
Date of Posting: 12-06-2024
The World Health Organisation says a case of human infection with bird flu caused by the H9N2 virus has been detected in a four-year-old child in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. The patient was admitted to the pediatric intensive care uni Read More...
Swimmers' cancer risk sparks call for sun safe Olympics
Date of Posting: 12-06-2024
Brisbane's 2032 Games need to be sun safe, say researchers who are studying the risk of skin cancer among elite swimmers. Dermatologist Peter Soyer checked the skin of 44 elite swimmers and 23 of the athletes' support staff, as part of a s Read More...
