Category Archives: Health
We have the tools to help control the pandemic; we have to use them
The arrival of more infectious Covid variants means more of us need to be vaccinated than previously thought, with an uptake of at least 80%. The federal government must now drive that promotion campaign with a focus on vaccine safety.
Putting all our eggs in the vaccination basket is delusional
Governments worldwide have placed their hopes for fighting the pandemic in the roll-out of vaccines. But the jab will not be a panacea for society. Behavioural modifications will still be required.
Pandemic deaths have numbed our humanity and perception of risk
On one terrible day in December, Covid-19 deaths in the US for the first time exceeded the death toll from the World Trade Centre terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. To make people care we need to personalise the issue.
Australia’s Covid-19 quarantining – an abrogation of federal responsibilities! There is no national plan
Perhaps the most contentious issue of our Covid year is who is in charge of quarantining? With continuing outbreaks of Covid-19 linked to incoming travellers, Australians have reacted with astonishment that quarantining issues were not foreseen and planned for years … Continue reading
State of emergency: London, Washington DC fail basic duty to protect citizens
Donald Trump and Boris Johnson stand condemned as incompetent, bloody-minded buffoons, but they didn’t get there all by themselves. They were aided and abetted by craven ministers and dangerously partisan media companies.
Diplomacy’s pointy end. Chinese vaccines in Indonesia.
The choreography was about reassurance. A well-masked Indonesian President Joko Widodo sitting before a large red sign saying AMAN dan HALAL – meaning safe and approved for Muslims. Alongside stood Palace doctor Professor Abdul Muthalib ready to show 270 million … Continue reading
The Matthew Fisher Sarcoma Research Fund
My granddaughter Naomi’s husband, Matt Fisher, died of an aggressive sarcoma cancer earlier this month. He was aged 39. The sarcoma was diagnosed in February last year. A research fund has been established to promote research at the Garvan Institute. … Continue reading
Barriers to the NDIS
The planned introduction of independent assessments for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) will further disadvantage those with complex and not obviously manifest disabilities. For marginalised people with disabilities there are questions.
Responding to Callaghan: completing Australia’s retirement income system
The Retirement Income Review (Callaghan) Report concluded that the Australian retirement income system is effective, sound and its costs are broadly sustainable.
Are surgeons just a little bit less careful when operating on their birthdays?
‘Yes, if you think the op’s necessary, Doc, of course I’ll have it. Just so I know, are there any risks? And how long will I be in hospital? Thanks, see you in theatre. Oh, by the way, you won’t … Continue reading
It is foolhardy, indeed downright irresponsible, to have spectators at cricket and tennis matches this summer
The basic imperative for controlling an epidemic wherein the inhalation of aerosolised viral particles can cause much illness and death, is to stay away from each other.
The shabby treatment of nurses by medical doctors.
A collection of recent articles about the dismissal of the key role of nurses by the Medical Benefits Schedule Review Taskforce. The doctor dominated Taskforce is determined not to understand that nurses hold the health system together
Reflections on and predictions for the Covid-19 pandemic as 2020 gives way to 2021. Part 2
If there is a “brotherhood of man” now is the time for it to manifest itself as we respond to the enormous challenge involved in overcoming the inequity that could stop us winning the struggle with a deadly virus. Of … Continue reading
Reflections on and predictions for the Covid-19 Pandemic as 2020 gives way to 2021. Part 1
At a meeting recently in Texas the chairman of the International Association for the Promotion of SARS viruses addressed an enthusiastic audience. Representatives of all strains of COVID-19 currently having their way with humans were present. “How much better is … Continue reading
Is the Darwin Dan Murphy’s Woolworths a Juukan Gorge moment?
As time has passed, opposition to Woolworths’ plans for a massive alcohol store near three dry Indigenous communities in Darwin has strengthened and become more vociferous. Even with the assistance of a pliant Northern Territory Government, approval of this shocking … Continue reading
Nurse Practitioners must be recognised by the Medical Benefits Schedule
For the sake of improved nationwide health care delivery, in its eventual response to the MBS Review, we sincerely hope that government is able to demonstrate an enlightened approach to the role of Nurse Practitioners in Australia.
Surely pre-senile dementia is too high a price to pay for sporting glory
Watching 22-year-old cricketer Will Pucovski collapse after a rock-hard ball travelling at more than 100mph smashed into the side of his head was literally sickening. The ninth time he would be diagnosed as having concussion, the cumulative damage to his … Continue reading
Medicare Review: professional mobbing and cartel behaviour against nurses
The long-awaited Medicare Benefits Scheme Taskforce Review (MBSTR) Report has been released but brought little joy for those seeking contemporary health care delivery, improved consumer choice, and outcome-based care.
Let’s all shout out for our nurses in 2021
During COVID-19, it is the nurses who are predominantly in the front line. Doctors can come into a ward, see patients and then move on. The nurses stay there. They are the ones most exposed to infection. They put their … Continue reading
Health Professionals during the pandemic
In a short period of time the coronavirus crisis has disrupted most aspects of Australian life – the economy, our social and cultural activities, education, health, and transport. It is becoming exceedingly clear to the public the extraordinary role that … Continue reading
The global effort by anti-vaxxers to destroy confidence in Covid-19 vaccines
With the global effort to immunise 8 billion people leaving the station the challenges involved are immense.
We thought you saw us nurses – seems we were wrong
In 2020 the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife there has been a focus on nurses and nursing. Not the one planned, but nonetheless, nurses have been seen: by politicians and the public. But not by the medical doctors … Continue reading
Dentists, overtreatment and policy deficiencies
A recent article in Pearls and Wisdom discussed the issue of “overtreatment” (the provision of unnecessary or low priority care) in dentistry and the associated issue of the conflict between ethics and profits.
A perverse, offensive and oppressive rejection of nurses
The Medicare Benefits Schedule Review Taskforce further curtails Nurse Practitioner practice – a case of unenlightened self-interest?
What has happened to influenza (and everything else) during the COVID-19 pandemic?
By December 10 2020, there have been over 68 million cases of COVID-19 and over 1.5 million deaths worldwide. But there has been a dramatic reduction in influenza, a winter illness responsible for about 3000 deaths annually in Australia
Overtreatment in Dentistry: A Professional Controversy
Overtreatment is clearly an ethical issue in dentistry; we need leadership within the profession that is not afraid to confront the challenges which face both practitioners and the public.
El Cheapo Aged Care: why the Coalition’s make-work schemes won’t work
The best interests of older people are not uppermost in this government’s thinking. Referring to older people requiring care as “consumers”, describing the transfer of residents to hospital as “decanting”, talk of “cohorting” residents into specific sections of a home … Continue reading
There were shocking Covid-19 infection rates in USA arrivals in March – why were flights not shut down?
In early March this year, our experts should have gone in search of hard data. They would quickly have determined that the infection rate in USA arrivals was in dire contrast to the published USA rates.
Three cheers for health workers who care for patients, communities and the planet
During the Covid crisis doctors and heath care workers have been a ‘light on the hill’ for service and dedication to humanity. By September 2020 over 7000 around the world had died from Covid contracted at work.
Fraudster will create US COVID vaccination problems
In the US we can guarantee that someone among the anti-vaxxers will be claiming that the new President is trying to poison them and/or forcibly convert them to communism.