Category Archives: men’s health

The latest wrap of health and medical reading at The Conversation

November 11, 2011 – 7:40 pm

Thanks to Fron Jackson-Webb from The Conversation for providing this latest wrap of  health and medical news. The stories below cover pharma industry lobbying, the pokies debate, and plenty more… *** The tricks companies use to get over-priced drugs on the PBS By Thomas Faunce, ARC Future Fellow at Australian National University: Boehringer Ingelheim, manufacturer of [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in childbirth and maternity services, gambling, health & medical marketing, men's health, mental health, obesity, pharmaceutical benefits scheme, pharmaceutical industry, pharmacy, public health, women's health | Comments (0)

A stack of reading: the latest health and medical news from The Conversation

August 29, 2011 – 2:34 am

Thanks to Reema Rattan, for providing this update of the latest health and medical reading at The Conversation. The stories below cover medical mishaps, men’s health, breast cancer screening, alcohol labelling, media reporting of suicide, hospital care of patients with mental health problems, puberty, the NT Intervention, bariatric surgery and type 2 diabetes, and the [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in adverse events, alcohol, cancer, child health, diabetes, Hospitals, Indigenous health, legal issues, Media-related issues, men's health, mental health, NT Intervention, physical activity, public health, screening, surgery | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (1)

A Who’s Who when it comes to advising the Federal Government on Indigenous health

August 13, 2011 – 8:06 am

The Minister for Indigenous Health, Warren Snowdon, has announced the new membership of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Equality Council (formerly called the National Indigenous Health Equality Council). With so much of the media and public debate about Indigenous health driven by a small number of voices, it would be good to [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in chronic diseases, Indigenous health, men's health | Tagged , | Comments (2)

Does Australia need a version of the Institute of Medicine?

June 15, 2011 – 10:32 am

Croakey has often been grateful for the work done by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in the US. The IOM, established in 1970 as the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences, aims to provide unbiased and authoritative advice to decision makers and the public, and “asks and answers the nation’s most pressing questions [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in adverse events, cancer, conflicts of interest, health literacy, infectious diseases, lesbian gay bisexual transgender issues, men's health, National Preventive Health Agency, NHMRC, prevention, primary health care, public health, quality and safety of health care, rural and remote health, social determinants of health, Uncategorized, women's health | Comments (7)

The movies and memoirs of mental health

May 30, 2011 – 7:17 pm

In keeping with the cultural theme of recent posts, below is an article about mental health at the movies (first published at the Cinetology blog), as well as a list compiled in the US of the 20 greatest memoirs of mental illness (which omits some of my favourites). *** What are Australian film-makers telling us [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in alcohol, illicit drugs, Indigenous health, men's health, mental health, rural and remote health, Youth health | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

What do you want to know about rural health?

March 13, 2011 – 5:29 pm

Last week, I asked Croakey readers what they wanted to hear from the national rural health conference, which starts in Perth today. Here are the suggestions that have arrived via email, blog comments, and Twitter: • We would like to ask any policy-makers in attendance when a national program for skin cancer prevention will be [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in cancer, chronic diseases, health reform, health workforce, men's health, mental health, rural and remote health, women's health | Tagged , , | Comments (2)

Beware the personal testimonial when it comes to prostate cancer screening

November 23, 2010 – 7:28 pm

Simon Chapman, professor of public health at the University of Sydney, writes: Last week’s publication of my book, Let Sleeping Dogs Lie? What men should know before getting tested for prostate cancer (free download here), has provoked a stream of testimonials from men who had their prostate cancer found via a PSA test, had it [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in cancer, men's health, public health, quality and safety of health care, screening, tests | Tagged , | Comments (4)

What’s sex-based advertising got to do with health? More on Kraft and Cream

June 14, 2010 – 3:10 pm

The health sector tends to consider food advertising mainly in terms of its effect on waistlines and pester power. But Margo Saunders, a public health policy consultant in Canberra, is here to remind us that advertising has many other insidious effects on our wellbeing. As a case in point, have a look at the ads [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in Food, health & medical marketing, Media-related issues, men's health, public health, women's health | Tagged , , , | Comments (8)

What difference will the new men’s health policy make?

May 7, 2010 – 6:35 pm

What will difference will the new national male health policy make on the ground? Margo Saunders, a health policy consultant in Canberra, suggests that it’s a question we will need to keep asking. She writes: “Given that Kevin Rudd reckons that Australia’s first National Male Health Policy, launched yesterday, is about 110 years late, we [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in Australian Medical Association, general practice, Indigenous health, men's health, women's health | Tagged , | Comments (4)

Does Mother’s Day really have to be SO pink?

May 6, 2010 – 10:16 am

The deluge of pink advertising in the lead-up to Mother’s Day is not only infuriating; it has an important message for those seeking to tackle gender-related health issues. So says Margo Saunders, a public health policy consultant in Canberra, who also wonders: do women really want a pink computer? She writes: “I have been thinking [...]

By Melissa Sweet | Also posted in men's health, public health, women's health | Tagged , , , , | Comments (7)