Monthly Archives: November 2008

Is it time for a truce in the disease wars?

November 28, 2008 – 11:29 am

When a disease or health problem hits the headlines, claiming a massive casualty count or economic cost, my first thoughts are often cynical. Who is driving this and why? When I investigate further, my cynicism is often reinforced. Often it’s a group lobbying for a particular treatment to be funded. Often the campaign is supported, [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in conflicts of interest, Media-related issues | Tagged , , , | Comments (1)

Is Crikey’s register of influence a crap idea?

November 27, 2008 – 10:43 am

Adam Cresswell, the health editor at The Australian, has had a critical look at Crikey’s register of influence, and doesn’t quite like what he sees. Writing in his regular Media Bites column in Australian Doctor magazine (the issue dated 28 November), Adam raises concerns that the register may simply create confusion rather than greater transparency [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in conflicts of interest, Crikey register of influence, Media-related issues | Tagged , , | Comments (1)

Should we regulate smoking in movies?

November 25, 2008 – 1:11 pm

Simon Chapman, professor of public health at the University of Sydney, writes: There is an international push in tobacco control circles for regulation of the film industry in response to growing evidence on the association of smoking scenes in movies with teenage smoking uptake. Thailand now pixilates smoking and there has been big momentum in [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in Journal articles, tobacco control, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments (4)

Will we act on global poverty, climate change and the rest?

November 25, 2008 – 11:25 am

Professor Stephen Leeder, director of The Australian Health Policy Institute, responds to a recent Crikey article by Fran Baum and colleagues calling for international action on global poverty: “It was said of the Australian cricket team during several of the ill-fated Ashes series in the 1980s that repeatedly it ‘seized defeat from the jaws of [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in climate change, Health inequalities, poverty | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Is the new binge drinking campaign a backward step?

November 24, 2008 – 10:57 am

Dr Alex Wodak, Director, Alcohol and Drug Service, at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, says so: “The Federal government’s recently announced national media campaign to reduce high risk drinking among young people is a backward step. Like many previous similar campaigns, we are promised that this education campaign will be part of a comprehensive package. [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in alcohol, Media-related issues | Tagged , , | Comments (6)

Missing in action

November 21, 2008 – 1:10 pm

This has been such a week of missed opportunity. The headlines have been dominated by the Feds urging a local government spend on infrastructure – and fast. It was a perfect opportunity for the public health crowd to highlight the importance of local government as agents of health. So much of our public debate about [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in Media-related issues | Tagged , | Comments (3)

Should journalists accept awards funded by drug companies?

November 21, 2008 – 11:30 am

The financial ties between drug companies and journalists are scrutinised in the latest British Medical Journal by American medical academics Lisa Schwartz and Steven Woloshin, and Australian journalist Ray Moynihan. The authors suggest that journalism educators should not accept funding from the healthcare and drug industries, that journalists should not accept gifts, awards, or any [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in Journal articles, Media-related issues | Tagged , , | Comments (1)

Academics as journalists?

November 19, 2008 – 6:40 pm

Some journalists (and quite possibly some academics too) might not appreciate this suggestion, but every now and then I come across an academic publication and think, “what a wonderful piece of journalism”. And I mean that in the nicest possible way. The best of journalistic practice – a willingness to challenge accepted wisdoms, to investigate [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in Journal articles, Media-related issues | Tagged , , , | Comments (1)

The media as scientific cheer squad

November 17, 2008 – 9:59 pm

The news that Australian scientists are “on the verge” of developing a skin cancer vaccine has consumed significant amounts of prime-time media space in the past few days. It’s even made international headlines. This has all been superb publicity for the Australian Health and Medical Research Congress, where the work was due to be presented [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in Media-related issues | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Redistributing health?

November 17, 2008 – 1:23 pm

It strikes me that the global economic meltdown is creating one of those “is the glass half full or half empty?” moments. Governments are talking up the need for public spending, investment and infrastructure development as part of efforts to kickstart economies. As Fran Baum and colleagues point out in Crikey today, it’s a critical [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Comments (1)