News Articles
Population shift prompts blood donor plea
Date of Posting: 11-03-2024
There's a fresh plea for Australians who come from a variety of backgrounds to roll up their sleeves and donate blood after a study highlighted a shift in the nation's blood types. There are four commonly known blood types - A, AB, B and O Read More...
Birthing on Country means best start in life for babies
Date of Posting: 10-03-2024
Too many First Nations mothers and babies are being traumatised and dying during childbirth, according to Indigenous health professor Yvette Roe. First Nations women are almost twice as likely to have a preterm birth and almost four times more lik Read More...
Funding to curb long wait for women's disease diagnosis
Date of Posting: 10-03-2024
Seven years and 11 general practitioners - that's how long it took Jessica Taylor to receive an endometriosis diagnosis. From the age of 14, Ms Taylor had excruciating periods to the extent she would faint at school and wake up in an ambulance Read More...
Alcohol policies need sharper focus on gender, WHO says
Last Updated: 08-03-2024
National policies on alcohol should consider gender, the World Health Organisation says, warning the industry is increasingly targeting women who face greater health risks than men from low level drinking. The Geneva-based WHO said that there was Read More...
Ramping 'major factor' in deadly 10-hour ambo wait
Date of Posting: 08-03-2024
Emergency responders "underappreciated" the risk to a vulnerable patient who died after a 10-hour ambulance wait, a review of the incident has found. Suffering intense abdominal pain and vomiting, an ambulance was called for Eddie, a 54- Read More...
Measles cases spark alerts for airport and university
Date of Posting: 08-03-2024
A measles alert has been issued for a major airport, university, several flights and shops in Victoria. Five people have been diagnosed with the highly infectious disease, including two people travelling on planes.[subscribe] Melbourne Airport& Read More...
Spinal injuries rise due to falls and road accidents
Date of Posting: 07-03-2024
Everyday more than 53 Australians arrive in hospital suffering spinal injuries. That's according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare which found more than 19,000 people presented to emergency departments for spinal injuries and o Read More...
Women's health centres welcome vital funding boost
Date of Posting: 07-03-2024
A boost to clinics for vulnerable women will help more access health care and reduce strain on public hospitals, the NSW government says. More than $34 million announced in the state budget has now been allocated to women's health centres arou Read More...
No fish, eggs during pregnancy 'may lead to obesity
Date of Posting: 07-03-2024
Expectant mums face no shortage of advice on what they should and shouldn't eat but the latest research says excluding two foods during pregnancy could do more harm than good. Mums who do not eat cooked fish or eggs have a higher risk of havin Read More...
Can telehealth be the answer for diagnosing cerebral palsy?
Date of Posting: 07-03-2024
James Cook University PhD candidate Claire Grant has embarked on a journey to discover whether children can be diagnosed with cerebral palsy via telehealth. Working as a physio in Townsville during the COVID-19 pandemic, Grant found that the rise Read More...
Painful disease striking one in three flies under radar
Date of Posting: 05-03-2024
Deborah Knight was not yet 50 when the broadcast journalist received the shock news that she had contracted a painful and debilitating illness. Like many Australians, the Sydney-based TV and radio presenter was vaguely aware of the threat of shing Read More...
Noisier world linked to increase in hearing loss
Date of Posting: 05-03-2024
With one in seven people globally expected to have tinnitus at some point, Australian researchers are raising awareness on ways to prevent deafness and hearing loss. It is estimated 1.5 billion people worldwide have measurable hearing loss in ligh Read More...
Calls for health insurance oversight after premium rise
Date of Posting: 05-03-2024
ustralia's peak medical body wants independent oversight of price hikes to private health insurance premiums, following a more than three per cent spike. The federal government has approved an average industry premium rise of 3.03 per cent fro Read More...
Australians encouraged to continue getting booster jabs
Date of Posting: 29-02-2024
All Australian adults should continue to get COVID-19 booster jabs but children in good health need not worry, the government's vaccine advisory group says. Four years after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the nation, the virus continues to eb Read More...
'Crisis' as eating disorders cost Australia $67 billion
Date of Posting: 29-02-2024
Australia is in the midst of a "public health crisis" as the number of people with eating disorders increases, costing the country $67 billion a year. That's the verdict from charity the Butterfly Foundation, which says 1.1 million A Read More...
Vaping rates, alcohol and drug use by young women up
Date of Posting: 29-02-2024
The number of Australians smoking cigarettes continues to fall but vaping, alcohol and some illicit drugs are growing in popularity, a survey has found. E-cigarette use was most common among 18 to 24-year-olds and increased substantially from 5.3 Read More...
Vape shops could close as government eyes sales ban
Date of Posting: 28-02-2024
The sale of vapes could be banned within months with retailers coming into focus as the next battlefront in the war on vaping. The government has already banned the importation of single-use vapes and from Friday more restrictions are set to come Read More...
Baby with measles sparks six-hour emergency room alert
Date of Posting: 28-02-2024
People who attended an emergency department over a nearly six-hour window are being warned to watch for measles symptoms after a baby was confirmed to have the disease. The child was too young to have been vaccinated and recently returned from sou Read More...
COVID vaccine mandate 'unlawful' for emergency services
Date of Posting: 27-02-2024
COVID-19 vaccine mandates for Queensland police and ambulance service workers were made unlawfully, the state's Supreme Court has found. The court on Tuesday delivered its judgments in three lawsuits brought by 86 parties against Queensland Po Read More...
Hospital did not scan Indigenous man 'writhing' in pain
Date of Posting: 27-02-2024
An Indigenous man was writhing and screaming in pain at a regional NSW hospital, but doctors did not scan him and he died soon after being discharged, an inquest has been told. Ricky Hampson Jr died on August 16, 2021, from ruptured duodenal ulcer Read More...
Biomedical hub to produce keys in life-saving therapies
Date of Posting: 25-02-2024
A biomedical research facility will expand to commercial scale, bringing life-saving therapies and vaccines from the laboratory and into the clinic in a move the NSW government hopes will make the city a global research hub. The world-leading lab Read More...
Discovery of deadly opioid in US wastewater bodes ill
Date of Posting: 25-02-2024
A deadly synthetic drug more potent than heroin has been detected by Australian scientists in US wastewater for the first time. Protonitazene is a type of synthetic opioid that is extremely dangerous and even small amounts can lead to possible lif Read More...
Friable asbestos at one of five extra tainted sites
Date of Posting: 25-02-2024
Friable asbestos has been discovered at one of five more contaminated Sydney sites as the investigation into tainted mulch distributed across NSW continues. The NSW Environmental Protection Authority on Friday said friable asbestos had been confir Read More...
Most regional areas hit with 30pct palliative care cut
Date of Posting: 23-02-2024
Doctors have hit out "heartless and inhumane" delays in palliative care as new figures show reductions to promised funding exceed 30 per cent in most NSW regional areas. About $401 million has been committed to palliative care services i Read More...
In a heartbeat: smart watches helping to close the gap
Date of Posting: 23-02-2024
When Aunty Mary Waites joined a research trial aimed at helping to reduce the risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease in Aboriginal and Torres Strait people, she saved her husband's life. When Aunty Mary, a Ngemba woman from Brewarrina in we Read More...
Legionnaires' disease warning for parts of Sydney uni
Date of Posting: 23-02-2024
A Legionnaires' disease warning has been issued for parts of the University of Sydney's Camperdown campus after three people were admitted to hospital. Two men in their 60s, and one woman in her 70s, were diagnosed with Legionnaires' d Read More...
Warning as deadly rates of dementia expected to soar
Date of Posting: 22-02-2024
Dementia rates could nearly double over the next three decades to become the leading cause of death among Australians. An Australian Institute of Health study commissioned by Dementia Australia predicts by 2054, without a medical breakthrough, dem Read More...
Greener grass if weed is legal but doctors more blunt
Date of Posting: 22-02-2024
Legal cannabis could puff up the impact of chronic pain and blunt the strain on the criminal justice system, an inquiry heard, but doctors took a pot shot at the proposal, saying it could also risk exacerbating self-medication. Parliamentarians go Read More...
Awards to honour healthcare workers who are a cut above
Date of Posting: 22-02-2024
Healthcare workers are set to be honoured for their service in the industry and to patients as part of new awards. The Stronger Medicare Awards will recognise individual health practitioners as well as multi-disciplinary teams and practices across Read More...
'To be blunt, it's cruel': legal weed could reduce harm
Date of Posting: 21-02-2024
Arguments for keeping cannabis illegal are smoke and mirrors with the legal system under strain from small personal possession offences that don't align with health benefits, one lawyer argues. Parliamentarians got into the weeds of Greens sen Read More...
Oral bacteria transplants may revolutionise dentistry
Date of Posting: 21-02-2024
Transplanting bacteria from the mouths of donors with healthy teeth through toothpaste or gel could be the next leap forward in treating tooth decay. The oral microbiome - the collection of bacteria that naturally occupies the human mouth - contai Read More...
More must be done to reduce birth trauma, says former midwife.
Date of Posting: 21-02-2024
Around one in three women are experiencing birth trauma, according to Integrative Birth Therapist, Emma Sneglar, who left the midwifery profession to support women whose mental health has been impacted by traumatic birth experiences. “I left Read More...
Midwifery calls for increased focus on continuity of care.
Date of Posting: 21-02-2024
The Australian College of Midwives (ACM) is urging the Government to prioritise the midwifery workforce, claiming the industry, if well supported, would contribute to improving long term health outcomes including chronic disease. In its pre- Read More...
Health procedures risk safety of patients, inquiry told
Date of Posting: 20-02-2024
Nurses working in hospitals across NSW are struggling with inconsistent equipment, inadequate supply procedures and cumbersome approval processes that jeopardise the safety of their patients, an inquiry has been told. Practitioners working for dif Read More...
Gonorrhoea spike prompts plea for regular testing
Date of Posting: 20-02-2024
Gonorrhoea is going around Gippsland at such a rate health authorities are pleading for people to get tested. Notifications of the infection in Gippsland, in Victoria's east, jumped almost 20 per cent in 2023, according to the Gippsland Region Read More...
New midwifery birth centre is being built
Date of Posting: 19-02-2024
Bentley Hospital in Western Australia is the first public health service to offer a new Midwifery Birth Centre that is based on a contemporary model of care. The build is underway and is expected to open during the second half of 2024. The centre Read More...
Anxiety and irritability linked to faster heart ageing
Date of Posting: 19-02-2024
Personality traits such as anxiety and irritability have been linked with early signs of heart ageing. Experts said the findings of a UK study show people at risk of developing mental health conditions could benefit from more support in an attempt Read More...
Dull and dumb? Fog clears on smokers' stereotype
Date of Posting: 19-02-2024
Quit-smoking material needs to better reflect Australia's 2.5 million daily smokers, who aren't the jobless and dumb some would have them portrayed as, researchers say. A first-of-its-kind national study released on Monday paints a clearer Read More...
Mental health patients 'pushed through', inquiry told
Date of Posting: 15-02-2024
Funding arrangements are creating perverse incentives for health practitioners to spend less time with patients in need of mental health services. Per-patient Medicare gap payments encouraged managers to push general practitioners towards shorter Read More...
Syphilis cases surge, spark government intervention
Date of Posting: 14-02-2024
Syphilis cases are surging across Queensland with a 25 per cent rise in the last year alone, prompting the state government to intervene. Health Minister Shannon Fentiman has announced a five-year action plan backed by an initial funding boost of Read More...
