Category Archives: global health

Budget cuts to foreign aid: what will they mean for global health?

May 9, 2012 – 1:29 pm

The budget cuts to foreign aid are bad news for global health but should be seen in the wider context of efforts to improve the effectiveness and scale of Australia’s aid program, says Joel Negin, Senior Lecturer in International Public Health at the University of Sydney. *** The cuts will have “an immediate and direct impact”  Joel [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in Federal Budget 2012-2013, public health | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

In case you missed this series on the need for drug law reform

May 2, 2012 – 7:30 pm

Australia21 is an independent, non-profit organisation involved in multidisciplinary research and inquiry on issues of strategic importance to Australia. Its concern with public health is not surprising given that its board members include Emeritus Professor Bob Douglas and physician/law reform advocate Dr Alex Wodak. It recently released a report titled “The prohibition of illicit drugs [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in illicit drugs, legal issues, public health | Tagged , , | Comments (1)

Marking International Chagas Day and creating some noise about a silent disease

April 16, 2012 – 6:10 pm

It’s a strange old world. In some quarters, there are concerns that many people are getting too much medicine – for example, see this report at The Atlantic, titled The Preposterous Epidemic of Pre-Diseases. It is about the push for treating “preconditions”, the subject of a talk given recently by Dr Ivan Oransky, the executive [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in infectious diseases, public health | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Ensuring that research makes a difference: some practical advice

March 26, 2012 – 10:10 pm

As previously mentioned, an interesting research project has been exploring the nexus between research and policy making. In the article below, Abby Haynes, research officer at the Sax Institute, reports on some of the implications of the findings for researchers and policy makers. And at the bottom of the post is a link to a [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in evidence-based issues, health and medical research, Media-related issues, public health, social media and healthcare | Comments (1)

Marking World TB Day with a call for urgent action on an international “health emergency”

March 23, 2012 – 6:55 pm

On the eve of World TB Day, governments, international donors and drug companies are being urged to step up their commitment to fighting a “health emergency”. In the article below, Dr Marianne Gale, a TB and HIV Advisor for Médecins Sans Frontières, describes the terrible toll that this disease is taking upon people around the world. [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in infectious diseases, public health | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Why the world needs a “dengue day”: Journal Watch

March 15, 2012 – 4:36 pm

As previously mentioned, Croakey features a “must read” article from the JournalWatch service of The Public Health Advocacy Institute WA. This month’s article calls for a World Dengue Day. It notes there has been a 30-fold increase in the number of dengue cases over the past 50 years. Recent studies estimate 50–100 million infections each year, although, owing to under-reporting, this [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in health and medical research, public health, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

The next head of the World Bank: critical for global public health

March 6, 2012 – 4:35 pm

If you have a concern for global health, then you should be paying close attention to who has control over the world’s economic levers, suggests health economist, Professor Gavin Mooney. *** Public health focus should be on who runs the economic show Gavin Mooney writes: Readers might wonder why the question of who might be [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in Health inequalities, public health, social determinants of health | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Mental health reform: a global perspective on the barriers

March 6, 2012 – 4:11 pm

A global perspective on the facilitators and barriers to mental health reform has been published in PLoS Medicine, by South African researchers: Why Does Mental Health Not Get the Attention It Deserves? An Application of the Shiffman and Smith Framework. It examines why mental illness has not achieved visibility, policy attention, or funding, particularly in [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in health reform, mental health | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Mental health and asylum seekers: what the authorities don’t want to know

February 27, 2012 – 6:04 pm

An FOI request by the NT News has revealed high rates of psychiatric medicine use among asylum seekers being held in detention. The article says Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) spokesman Sandi Logan did not say how many had seen a psychiatrist. Instead, he said detainees were being referred to psychiatrists by GPs “when [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in mental health | Comments (3)

A call to prevent needless suffering: feedback from recent palliative care event

February 20, 2012 – 10:32 am

Claire Maskell of Palliative Care Australia recently wrote for Croakey about inequities in global access to palliative care and pain management. The article was a preview to the recent screening in Canberra of the award-winning documentary LIFE before Death.  It drew an audience of 200 people including parliamentarians, health professionals, members of the public and [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in Health inequalities, palliative care | Tagged , , | Comments (0)