Unprecedented progress has been made in reducing maternal and child deaths around the world since 1990, according to a new report from Save the Children. Nonetheless, the statistics remain shocking. Of the three million babies who die each year in their first month of life, almost two-thirds are from just ten countries. Thanks to Joanne [...]
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A rather large wrap of health news from the Federal Budget – and some mixed reaction
This post offers an overview of health-related news from the Budget and a wrap of reaction. Here are links to: • Health and Ageing Budget statements • A table giving a quick overview of health spends and cuts • Ministerial press releases • Closing the Gap press release • The Treasurer’s speech ***
READ MOREIf the Feds wanted to use the Budget to improve population health….. (some out-of-the-box ideas)
If the Federal Government wanted to use the forthcoming Budget to boost population health, what would it do? Raise taxation generally (plus specific hikes for tobacco, alcohol, and unhealthy foods), and remove subsidies on the use of fossil fuels. These are among the suggestions from Croakey contributors outlined in the post below. Contributors also said [...]
READ MORESome advice for researchers and services wanting to improve Aboriginal health
Some suggestions for how researchers and health services might do a better job of engaging with Aboriginal patients and communities have come from a research project spanning rural, regional and remote NSW. The suggestions include taking time to develop trust and relationships (including with community members outside of the health sector), recruiting Aboriginal staff, and [...]
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Did Tony Jones and the Q and A team really mean to send this message about Indigenous health?
As Q and A wrapped up on Monday night, one particularly poignant tweet caught my eye. “Just tells you how much we don’t matter.” It was one of a series of tweets from a Wiradjuri woman, Kath Grant, who lives in Sydney (you can see them at the bottom of this post). She was disappointed [...]
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Some important questions about health policy and the federal election (aka your #qanda cheat sheet)
Health policy is up for debate this week thanks to ABC TV’s Q and A program, featuring Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek and the Opposition’s health spokesman Peter Dutton. You can pose a question online and see some of the other questions that have already been lodged, including: Large corporate organisations have become major players in [...]
READ MOREAnti-smoking campaigns failing Indigenous youth
Kristin Carson writes: How can anti-smoking campaigns be targeted more effectively at Australia’s Indigenous youth? It’s a good question, and one that, as yet, has proven difficult to answer. Almost half of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians aged 14 years and older smoke cigarettes, compared with one-fifth of non-Indigenous Australians. This has contributed [...]
READ MOREPrescription for healthy food in remote Indigenous communities
Carley Tonoli writes: Doctors should be able to provide subsidised “prescriptions” for healthy food to people in remote Aboriginal communities, says an Indigenous nutrition expert. Professor Kerin O’Dea, Professor of Nutrition and Public Health in the Health Sciences Division of the University of South Australia, made the call after a study she co-authored found that [...]
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Creating healthier goals for Yolngu girls: some reflections from a health promotion program
Last September, a group of Yolngu teenage girls from East Arnhem Land came to Sydney for a week of sporting and cultural events, as part of a program encouraging them to develop healthier aspirations. As part of the program, Kevin Bird, Healthy Lifestyle Co-ordinator at Miwatj Health Aboriginal Corporation, sought to use team sport as [...]
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Ian Thorpe on #closethegap: “We now need all state and territory governments to contribute their fair share”
Social media advocacy is on over-drive around tomorrow’s COAG meeting and the push for national signup to the National Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap in Indigenous Health Outcomes, which is due to expire at the end of June. Ian Thorpe, patron of the Close the Gap campaign, has published an open letter today calling for united [...]
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