News Articles
Prostate cancer costliest disease to treat
Date of Posting: 17-12-2022
Prostate cancer is Australia's most expensive disease to treat with costs ballooning to $1.35 billion a year. Data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) published this month shows prostate cancer accounts for 20 per cent o Read More...
Hospital sex-abuse report rebukes leaders
Date of Posting: 15-12-2022
Senior management at a Tasmanian hospital where a male pedophile nurse worked for almost two decades showed "inertia" to implementing child safety reforms after his death, a review has found. The Launceston General Hospital (LGH) was the Read More...
WHO hopes for end to pandemic in 2023
Date of Posting: 15-12-2022
The World Health Organisation is optimistic that the global health emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic can be lifted in 2023. They hope is to be able to say next year "this is not a pandemic anymore," WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebre Read More...
China won't count asymptomatic virus cases
Date of Posting: 15-12-2022
China says it will stop reporting asymptomatic COVID-19 cases since they have become "impossible" to track with mass testing no longer required, another step in the country's uncertain exit from some of the world's strictest antivir Read More...
Hotel nurses concerned for patient safety
Date of Posting: 14-12-2022
A Melbourne nurse who signed up to support hotel quarantine nearly walked out on day one because of a lack of consistent procedures. Despite concerns he couldn't keep patients safe, Michael Tait said he enjoyed the camaraderie and the challeng Read More...
Historic Smokefree NZ legislation passes
Date of Posting: 14-12-2022
New Zealand has banned the sale of cigarettes to anyone born after 2008 in a landmark attempt to eradicate smoking. The legislation, which passed late on Tuesday, will also slash the number of outlets able to sell cigarettes and cut nicotine in ci Read More...
How ultrasound could treat Alzheimer's
Date of Posting: 14-12-2022
Ultrasound treatments could be the key to restoring memory function for people with Alzheimer's disease, researchers say. A decade of research at the University of Queensland, through the Queensland Brain Institute, has led to a 12-month trial Read More...
Call for action on rising suicide rates
Last Updated: 13-12-2022
More Australians are taking their own lives now than during the pandemic, and experts fear the issue could worsen over coming years. The number of suicides in NSW and Victoria increased by 10 per cent from January to September this year, averaging Read More...
Poor health increasing among Australians
Date of Posting: 13-12-2022
Sickness and disease within the Australian population is on the rise for the first time in almost two decades - and COVID-19 is one of the leading causes. Despite the increase, the nation remains healthier than it was when monitoring started in 20 Read More...
Protection for genetic test results urged
Date of Posting: 13-12-2022
Insurance companies have been using the results of people's genetic tests to deny them cover, or raise the cost of their premiums, new research shows. Current settings regulating the life insurance industry are failing to protect consumers, th Read More...
Access tightened for free COVID PCR tests
Date of Posting: 13-12-2022
Patients will need a referral in order to get a free COVID PCR test from next year, under sweeping changes to how the country manages the virus. Under a new national management plan for 2023, the government is set to move away from "COVID exc Read More...
Fed govt releases COVID-19 plan for 2023
Date of Posting: 12-12-2022
The federal government will invest $2.8 million in a national COVID-19 management plan for 2023, warning the virus will continue to affect Australians. Health Minister Mark Butler says the government's clear priority is to minimise the inciden Read More...
Phone app to help with heart attacks
Date of Posting: 12-12-2022
A potentially life-saving smartphone app has been launched in South Australia to help people having a heart attack get access to help sooner. The GoodSAM app will be used by SA Ambulance staff and volunteers before being rolled out to other health Read More...
Caution as China slowly exits 'zero-COVID'
Date of Posting: 11-12-2022
With quiet streets in the heart of China's capital and city eateries adhering to virus curbs, the anxieties created by the "zero-COVID-19" regime could hinder the world's second-largest economy's return to health. Though the Read More...
Children's dental program funding extended
Date of Posting: 11-12-2022
Vulnerable children will receive further access to dental treatment following the extension of a government program. Funding for the child dental benefits schedule will be extended for a further four years.[subscribe] The scheme allows eligible Read More...
Aust trial treats COVID-19 blood clots
Date of Posting: 11-12-2022
An Australasian clinical trial has shed light on the most efficient level of blood thinning treatment needed for patients hospitalised with COVID-19. Patients in hospital with the virus are at increased risk of blood clots (or thromboses), which i Read More...
COVID case rise slows, peak on horizon
Date of Posting: 10-12-2022
The rise in COVID-19 cases is slowing nationally as NSW eyes a peak in its infections on the horizon. States and territories reported a total of 111,449 new cases on Friday, a six-per-cent rise on last week's figure but well down on the 15-per Read More...
Vic syphilis spike linked to stillbirths
Date of Posting: 10-12-2022
There's been a spike in the number of Victorian babies born with syphilis and the condition has been linked to stillbirths. Over the past six years, 14 babies were born with the condition including six who were stillborn.[subscribe] The sex Read More...
One-minute huffs and puffs to live longer
Date of Posting: 10-12-2022
Running for the bus might be an effective way to reduce the risk of premature death. A new study by the University of Sydney suggests one-minute bursts of huffing and puffing throughout the day could be as beneficial as playing a sport or going to Read More...
Fears over wave of breast cancer unfounded
Date of Posting: 08-12-2022
Fears that temporarily suspending breast cancer screening services during the pandemic would create a wave of advanced tumours do not appear to have come true. NSW suspended screening services for seven weeks in early 2020 to prevent the spread of Read More...
Scarlet Fever alert follows UK deaths
Date of Posting: 08-12-2022
Australian parents are warned to be on the alert for Scarlet Fever but not be overly alarmed, following the deaths of at least eight children in the United Kingdom. Scarlet Fever - medically known as a group A Streptococcal infection - is a bacter Read More...
Work starts on nation-first mRNA facility
Date of Posting: 08-12-2022
Work has begun at the site of Moderna's first Australian mRNA vaccine facility in Melbourne's southeast. The site at Monash University's Clayton campus has a 2024 completion date and will be capable of producing 100 million vaccine dos Read More...
Australian children failing fitness tests
Date of Posting: 07-12-2022
Australian children are glued to their screens and four out of five aren't getting enough exercise. Researchers are calling for a national physical activity plan to get kids moving following dismal results in the 2022 Active Healthy Kids Austr Read More...
Fears of a spike in child drownings
Date of Posting: 07-12-2022
It is feared there could be a jump in the number of children who drown this summer because of a deadly combination of kids missing swimming lessons and too many parents being unaware of water safety measures. A survey of 2036 Australian parents by Read More...
Chinese rush to buy COVID tests, medicines
Date of Posting: 07-12-2022
Chinese residents are rushing to snap up COVID-19 antigen kits and medicines for fevers and colds as the country's recent easing of prevention measures triggers widespread concern among the public they could now catch the virus. Online medicin Read More...
China may announce COVID easing steps
Date of Posting: 06-12-2022
China may announce 10 new COVID-19 easing measures as early as Wednesday, two Reuters sources say, supplementing 20 unveiled in November that set off a wave of COVID easing steps nationwide. Three years of zero-tolerance measures, from shuttered b Read More...
Third meningococcal death in NSW
Date of Posting: 06-12-2022
People in NSW are being warned to be alert to the symptoms of meningococcal disease after the death of a third person in the state this year. NSW Health says there have been 29 cases reported this year, the majority due to meningococcal B strain o Read More...
Parents warned to steer clear of hospital
Date of Posting: 06-12-2022
Melbourne parents with sick children may face waits of more than 12 hours at the Royal Children's Hospital's emergency department as it buckles under demand. The hospital, in a statement on Monday evening, warned families should seek alter Read More...
Leading GP fears for profession's future
Date of Posting: 05-12-2022
General practice will cease to exist unless there's a drastic overhaul of frontline medical services, the new head of Australia's peak body for GPs warns. Incoming Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president Nicole Higgins Read More...
Report urges revamp of 'failing' Medicare
Date of Posting: 05-12-2022
Medicare isn't working for patients or doctors and the way GPs work and get paid needs an overhaul so more people are kept out of hospital and poorer Australians get the care they need, a new report says. Australia's universal healthcare s Read More...
How COVID-19 lockdowns made life worse
Date of Posting: 05-12-2022
Melbourne's brutal COVID-19 lockdown lasted 245 days and for many people, life got progressively worse during this time, new research shows. Nearly half of Australians say the pandemic significantly reduced their quality of life and Melbourne Read More...
China COVID cases: what you need to know
Date of Posting: 04-12-2022
China has started taking steps to ease its zero-COVID-19 policy, fuelling a mix of relief and worry as the public waits to see the health consequences and impact on the medical system of a full-blown exit. Researchers have analysed how many deaths Read More...
Half of cancer patients face care hurdles
Date of Posting: 04-12-2022
More than half of Australian cancer patients experience systemic barriers to accessing the care they need, a new report has found. The report, Addressing The Hidden Burdens of Cancer Care, said the majority of those surveyed noted complexities in Read More...
NSW doctors slam 'disgusting' union advert
Date of Posting: 04-12-2022
NSW doctors are outraged by a new union advertisement calling for a royal commission into the the state's health budget, saying the campaign is a "cheap sucker punch" to hardworking medicos. The Health Services Union advert set to la Read More...
COVID-19 cases rise across the nation
Date of Posting: 03-12-2022
The latest COVID-19 wave shows no sign of ending, with weekly case figures rising in each jurisdiction and jumping 20 per cent in NSW and Victoria. This week, 37,796 people in NSW were diagnosed with the virus, 6000 more than last week, while Vict Read More...
Survey to check on true JEV cases
Date of Posting: 03-12-2022
Four states are taking part in a national study to determine how many people have been exposed to the Japanese encephalitis virus to better inform control efforts. The National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance is leading the surve Read More...
Offer to film in Sydney hospital 'wrong'
Date of Posting: 03-12-2022
A western Sydney hospital's ad offering filming space in empty hospital wards was a "mistake", the NSW premier says despite support for the initiative from his health minister. Campbelltown Hospital had posted a tender for "vaca Read More...
Twitter ditches COVID-19 misinfo policy
Date of Posting: 30-11-2022
Twitter has rolled back a policy that was aimed at tackling misinformation related to COVID-19 on the social media platform, lending itself to the risk of a potential surge in false claims even as cases rise in China and some parts of the world. T Read More...
Music app helps teens manage mental health
Date of Posting: 30-11-2022
Angsty teenagers locking up themselves in their rooms listening to sad rock ballads or punk music is more than just a stereotype - it can have adverse affects on their mental health. The average young person listens to music for up to five hours a Read More...
SA govt set to pass defibrillator laws
Date of Posting: 30-11-2022
Life-saving defibrillators will be mandatory in all public buildings, including schools, libraries, sporting facilities, theatres and prisons, under nation-leading legislation set to pass the South Australian parliament. The bill was introduced by Read More...
