November 6, 2009 – 6:08 pm
In case you missed it, there’s been a minor food spat going on at Crikey. When the nutritionist, Dr Rosemary Stanton, called for foods to be taxed according to their carbon footprint, this, predictably enough, got right up the noses of the Australian Food and Grocery Council, as well as their friends at the Institute [...]
November 6, 2009 – 10:00 am
The health sector, strangely enough, has a long history of beating up on those it is meant to serve. Men, for example, have been widely castigated for being “poor patients”. What this means is that they haven’t always done what health services or health professionals think they should – ie turn up for appointments, seek [...]
November 4, 2009 – 3:41 pm
The discussion about relationships between public health and the food industry continues…
Boyd Swinburn, Professor of Population Health, and Director of the WHO Collaborating Center for Obesity Prevention at Deakin University, writes:
“Stephen Leeder makes a well argued plea for people to quit blasting the food industry with moral indignation and to work with them to find [...]
November 4, 2009 – 2:16 pm
As the previous Croakey post points out, the news about Indigenous smoking rates may be more encouraging than we’ve previously understood.
Dr Mark Ragg, a health and communications expert, believes the history of smoking among people with mental illness holds some lessons for those working to tackle Indigenous smoking, and also gives cause for optimisim.
He writes:
“David [...]
November 4, 2009 – 2:07 pm
We are so inundated by bad news about Indigenous health that it’s easy to be overwhelmed by doom and gloom. But when it comes to smoking – a major cause of sickness and premature death – the news may be more encouraging than we’ve previously thought.
Dr David Thomas, a senior research fellow at the Menzies [...]
November 4, 2009 – 1:41 pm
The recent debate between nutritionist Dr Rosmary Stanton and PepsiCo executive Dr Derek Yach generated much discussion at Croakey. Many public health experts were sceptical about the intentions of companies like PepsiCo.
However, Stephen Leeder, Professor of Public Health at the University of Sydney, argues that the public health community needs to move beyond moral indignation [...]
November 4, 2009 – 9:32 am
As the previous Croakey posts report, the NT Government is under fire for its policy of refusing dialysis treatment in Alice Springs to Central Australians who live outside the Territory’s borders.
But the spotlight should be put on the Federal Government, argues Professor Wendy Hoy, of the Centre for Chronic Disease, School of Medicine, University [...]
November 3, 2009 – 6:47 pm
Continuing the thread from the previous post, the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory is warning that the NT Government’s policy of refusing dialysis treatment for patients from outside the Territory is causing enormous harm.
This is the statement:
AMSANT has written to the Northern Territory Health Minister with a potential solution to needless deaths among [...]
November 3, 2009 – 4:36 pm
Below is an extract of an open letter that is being circulated to raise awareness of the plight of Aboriginal people in central Australia who are no longer able to access dialysis services in Alice Springs.
It is from Sarah Brown, Manager of the Western Desert Nganampa Walytja Palyantjaku Tjutaku, an organisation that provides support to [...]
November 3, 2009 – 12:05 pm
Professor Kerry Goulston, Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the University of Sydney, has sent in the following review of two books likely to interest Croakey readers.
He writes:
“There are two outstanding books which I can highly recommend.
First, “Direct Red” by Gabriel Weston, who is a young Scottish Surgeon and a gifted narrator. She describes openly her [...]
