Monthly Archives: November 2009

The Nanny Paradox, income management and what public health experts think of it all

November 30, 2009 – 2:18 pm

I have written a piece for Crikey today about the Nanny Paradox – how “Nanny” has been strangely absent from public discussions about Federal plans to extend the reach of income management. Those who usually scream “Nanny State” whenever there’s talk of public health action to tackle problems like obesity, binge drinking etc have kept [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in Indigenous health, public health | Tagged , , , | Comments (2)

Health memo to COAG part three: here’s a way forward in the critical area of primary health care

November 30, 2009 – 11:49 am

Continuing Croakey’s series highlighting critical health reform issues in the lead-up to COAG’s last meeting of the year, to be held in Brisbane next Monday, we now turn the spotlight to primary health care. Professor Gawaine Powell Davies, CEO and Director of the Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity at the University of NSW, [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in Health inequalities, health reform, primary health care | Tagged , | Comments (1)

Health memo to COAG part two: beware the NHHRC’s advice

November 30, 2009 – 10:02 am

Professor David Penington, who recently wrote this article for Crikey warning the Prime Minister against “blindly following” the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission’s recommendations, has some further advice in the lead up to the COAG meeting. He writes:

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

Health memo to COAG part one: it’s time to tackle waste and inefficiency

November 30, 2009 – 9:39 am

With health reform high on the agenda of the forthcoming COAG meeting, it is worth reminding ourselves about why we need it. It is also worth  being reminded that simply spending more money is no guarantee of better health or even better health care. We currently waste much money on treatments of dubious or uncertain [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in health reform | Comments (2)

A useful resource for those investigating the pharma industry

November 27, 2009 – 4:52 pm

Thanks to the American Association of Health Care Journalists for this useful lead. The Drug Industry Document Archive contains over 2500 documents about pharmaceutical industry clinical trials, publication of study results, pricing, marketing, relations with physicians and involvement in continuing medical education. It is a publically accessible web site hosted by the University of California, [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in conflicts of interest, Media-related issues, pharmaceutical industry | Tagged , , , , | Comments (2)

Tough Love: has it ever worked?

November 27, 2009 – 1:43 pm

Is income management smart policy and will it improve peoples’ health and wellbeing? A resounding “NO” is the answer from some of Australia’s leading experts on health equity. The following article is by Professor Mark Harris, Ms Elizabeth Harris, Mr Ben Harris-Roxas, and Associate Professor Marilyn Wise from the University of NSW’s Research Centre for [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in Health inequalities, Indigenous health, NT Intervention | Tagged , , , | Comments (2)

Consumers fed up with cataract surgery impasse

November 27, 2009 – 9:19 am

Croakey doesn’t usually post press releases verbatim, but it seems that the interests and views of patients and the broader community have been  somewhat missing in action in the barney over cuts to cataract surgery rebates. The Consumers Health Forum put out this statement last night:

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in health reform, surgery | Tagged , , , | Comments (2)

Climate change: guess what, it’s a health issue…

November 26, 2009 – 4:37 pm

Health organisations are hitting the hustings in the lead up to the Copenhagan conference on climate change. The Lancet has just published a series of articles examining the health implications, not only of climate change but also of climate change mitigation efforts. The conclusion is that many mitigation strategies – but not all – are [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in environmental health, global health, Journal articles, public health | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Income management: a worry for mental health

November 26, 2009 – 11:13 am

Alarm bells are ringing amongst some in the mental health sector about the potential impact of the Feds’ plans for a wider roll out of income management. Here is what Barbara Hocking, executive director of SANE Australia, has to say:

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in mental health | Tagged , | Comments (3)

Why shouldn’t all Australians be subject to income management?

November 26, 2009 – 11:01 am

If we are prepared to tolerate income management for people receiving welfare benefits, why shouldn’t the Government step in to manage the income of all Australians? OK, so that’s not exactly what public health expert Professor Stephen Leeder is saying in his article below, but it’s one inference you might draw. Here is his analysis [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Posted in Indigenous health, public health | Comments (1)