evidence-based issues
The Health Wrap: The Vegemite news spread; On your bike (sans helmet); a chronic problem; funding medical research and teens’ troubling mental health.
August 17, 2015
This week’s Health Wrap is compiled by my colleague Megan Howe, the Sax Institute’s Publications Manager. Enjoy the Wrap and tweet us via @medicalmedia or @meghowe68 if you have any ideas for future issues. By Megan Howe The Vegemite news spread The use and abuse of […]
The power of words: ‘why we need to stop talking about inequality’
August 12, 2015
As Australian moves to bring about marriage equality again floundered on Tuesday, this post below from New Zealand campaigner Kirk Serpes looks at the need to shift away from problem-focused messaging that’s aimed at “raising awareness” to tackle some of the most complex issues: poverty, inequality and crime. He discusses how “framing” is a powerful […]
Winter hospital bed crisis – could we be doing better?
August 11, 2015 1
Most non-urgent elective surgery in Adelaide’s public hospitals was cancelled last week and some patients transferred to neighbouring regional hospitals after SA Health faced its busiest day (so far) this winter. In the post below, Professor Jon Karnon asks what could have and should be done better to both prevent and manage demand, with the […]
Pension funds pressure pharma companies to disclose trial data
August 2, 2015
The AllTrials campaign had a big win recently when a group of 85 asset managers and pension funds said that they would request that the pharmaceutical companies they invest in declare their clinical trial data. This campaign calls for all past and present clinical trials to be registered and their full methods and summary results […]
On the risks to health, environment that must be dealt with in the TransPacific Partnership Agreement
July 24, 2015
Counting down to next week’s ‘home stretch’, The Economist says the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) looms as the most important free-trade agreement in years. “If completed, it will be the largest regional trade deal ever, with its members accounting for nearly 40 per cent of the world economy.” It also poses significant risks for environment and […]
As we fiddle with GST rises to fund health, South Australia sees big ‘short-sighted’ cuts to public health
July 20, 2015
As New South Wales and South Australia launch discussions on the merits of lifting the rate of the GST from 10 to 15 per cent “in order to pay for the increasing cost of healthcare”, they might want first to consider their health care priorities. Associate Professor Samantha Battams reveals below “a sad state of […]
The Health Wrap: Indigenous incarceration disgrace, let’s talk about smoking, Budget fairness test, all things Evidence
June 9, 2015 1
By Kellie Bisset The disgrace of Indigenous incarceration rates Following the successful crowdfunding of Croakey’s #JustJustice campaign, it’s timely to reflect on the release of the Amnesty International Report A brighter tomorrow: keeping Indigenous kids in the community and out of detention in Australia. The report found that Indigenous youth incarceration is at its highest level in 20 […]
Professor David Sackett, a ‘giant’ of evidence-based medicine, dies aged 80
June 4, 2015 1
The BMJ recently described evidence-based medicine as ‘one of the most important medical advances in the past 150 years, alongside the discovery of vaccines and antibiotics’. However, until quite recently the idea of basing clinical decisions on scientific and mathematical data was a controversial concept, resisted by many in the medical profession who argued that […]
The Health Wrap: A budget health check; medical school war of words; eyes on Ebola; pharmacy deal dispensed; all things equal
May 24, 2015
This week’s Health Wrap is compiled by my colleague Megan Howe, the Sax Institute’s Publications Manager. Enjoy the Wrap and tweet us via @medicalmedia or @meghowe68 if you have any ideas for future issues. By Megan Howe A budget health check The Federal Budget’s impact on health […]
‘Friends of the MJA’ call for reversal of AMPCo decisions to sack editor, outsource to Elsevier
May 22, 2015
A Friends of the MJA group has been set up to protest the recent decision by the Australian Medical Publishing Company (AMPCo) to sack the Medical Journal of Australia’s editor-in-chief Professor Stephen Leeder and outsource production and sub-editing to global publishing giant Elsevier. The group’s Steering Committee is calling for: a reversal of the decision […]