Category Archives: Health

Australia news live: back safeguard mechanism to ‘put climate wars behind us’, Labor urges Coalition and Greens – as it happened

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‘The onus is on Labor’ to explain why it needs more coal and gas: Bandt

There’s some discussion about possible alternatives – one suggestion is to pause new developments on gas and coal developments while reforms to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 have been hammered out.

We are up for good-faith discussions and proposals like that are coming from people like the Climate Council, from The Australia Institute. I’ve seen the Australia Conservation Foundation out saying there are serious problems with the government’s proposal.

You can’t put the fire out while pouring petrol on it.

I don’t think the penny has quite dropped with the government how much things are have moved on. 66% of people between 18 and 34 back our position – don’t want new coal and gas mines opened. 57% of the general population. Things have moved on.

I know Labor talks a lot about history, but the students who are marching in the streets at the moment, behind banners saying, “No new coal and gas” were in primary school in 2009. They do not want it, no one can understand why we are coming up to the year anniversary of the floods in Lismore, people cannot understand why Labor says they want to open up new projects.

Why does Labor want to go to the wall to open new coal and gas projects? These are huge climate bombs. They’ve got a very – I think it is an untenable task...

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Florida couple unable to get abortion will see baby die after delivery

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Doctors’ interpretation of state law prevents procedure, family tells Washington Post, despite baby’s fatal illness

In a few weeks, a Florida couple will have to bid farewell to their child shortly after the baby is delivered, a gut-wrenching reality created by the US supreme court’s elimination of nationwide abortion rights last year.

Because of a new Florida law that bans abortion after 15 weeks except under certain circumstances, Deborah Dorbert has become one of many women having difficulty accessing necessary abortion procedures after the supreme court overturned the rights granted by the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade decision.

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Taliban bans contraception calling use a ‘western conspiracy’

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Reports that fighters have threatened those issuing birth control medicines come as Afghan midwives and activists warn of impact on women’s health and rights

Taliban fighters have stopped the sale of contraceptives in two of Afghanistan’s main cities, claiming their use by women is a western conspiracy to control the Muslim population.

The Guardian has learned that the Taliban has been going door to door, threatening midwives and ordering pharmacies to clear their shelves of all birth control medicines and devices.

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Long Covid causing job losses and homelessness in Australia, inquiry hears

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Chief medical officer Paul Kelly says a long Covid strategy is ‘well under way’ but will not be finalised until advice is received from the inquiry

The federal government is developing a national long Covid strategy, with a parliamentary inquiry hearing the condition has resulted in job losses and homelessness among some sufferers.

The chief medical officer, Professor Paul Kelly, said the federal health department had been tasked with developing a national long Covid strategy that would cover prevention, immunisation, treatment and research into the condition.

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HarperCollins refused appeal in defamation case over claims made in Scientology book

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High court decision relates to previous judgment on allegations of controversial psychiatric treatments at Sydney’s Chelmsford private hospital

HarperCollins has failed in a bid to have Australia’s highest court rule on legal issues in a defamation case over controversial psychiatric treatments at Sydney’s Chelmsford private hospital.

The high court on Friday refused special leave to appeal two aspects of a federal court decision overturning an earlier judgment. That earlier judgment found claims in Steve Cannane’s book Fair Game: The Incredible Untold Story of Scientology in Australia were substantially true.

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Bodies of missing men found – as it happened

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Where the parties stand

So the Greens are pushing hard against new coal and gas but have not indicated they are willing to kill off the legislation.

We’re willing to negotiate on everything that we consider will be in keeping with our government’s approach and our election mandate. Nothing more, nothing less. We went to the people seeking a mandate. That’s what we will implement.

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Now the public has useful data on bulk-billing we can really push politicians for better healthcare

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The widely varying levels of bulk billing across Australia suggest diverse solutions may be needed to restore affordable GP services

Last year Guardian Australia’s medical editor, Melissa Davey, approached the new federal government seeking the release of GP bulk-billing statistics by electorate. Her article today reports on the process and the data she eventually received.

Health policy researchers should applaud Davey’s initiative and persistence in seeking and obtaining this data, which has not been released previously in this form.

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Revealed: more Australians than ever are paying to see a doctor as new data shows worst hit areas

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Exclusive: Data obtained by Guardian Australia reveals the areas suffering the biggest drop in fully bulk-billed GP patients

The number of Australians who are fully bulk billed by their GP has dropped significantly in just three years, with one electorate experiencing a decline of 18%, a Guardian Australia investigation reveals.

Experts say the decline of bulk billing – where the full cost of a consultation is paid for by Medicare without any additional gap fees – is putting serious strain on overstretched emergency departments and other health services.

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Girl with deadly inherited condition is cured with gene therapy on NHS

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Teddi Shaw, from Northumberland, first recipient on health service of Libmeldy, world’s most expensive drug

A girl born with a rare and deadly genetic condition is expected to live a long and normal life after becoming the first person to be cured on the NHS with the help of a revolutionary gene therapy.

Teddi Shaw was diagnosed with metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD), an inherited condition that causes catastrophic damage to the nervous system and organs. Those affected usually die young.

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Neurosurgeon Charlie Teo gave family ‘false hope’ with operation, hearing told

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Woman deteriorated after surgery in 2019, witness tells panel, but doctor denies any wrongdoing

A witness giving evidence at the start of a five-day disciplinary hearing into brain surgeon Charlie Teo held back tears as she recounted the deterioration of her mother’s health and eventual death after surgery by the high-profile physician.

The witness, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told Judge Jennifer Boland at the Health Care Complaints Commission in Sydney on Monday her mother developed paralysis and became wheelchair-bound after surgery in 2019.

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Nurses’ union in UK warns of exodus of young staff

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RCN says nearly 43,000 nurses in UK have quit early in their careers over past five years

The UK’s largest nursing union warned of a workforce “exodus” with tens of thousands of young staff leaving the profession, as NHS bosses backed calls for ministers to meet unions to agree on a pay deal and avoid further strike action.

Nearly 43,000 nurses across the UK in the early stages of their careers have quit over the past five years, figures from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) show – almost equal to the record 47,000 nursing posts now vacant in NHS England.

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Environment groups call for urgent action on hazardous waste from e-cigarettes

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Head of Clean Up Australia says disposing of vapes is ‘a new and serious environmental issue’

Environment groups have called for urgent clarity and regulation to respond to an increase in hazardous waste from e-cigarettes as vaping becomes more popular.

The number of people using e-cigarettes doubled between 2016 and 2019, according to the federal government, with a survey showing more than 30% of 14- to 17-year-olds have tried vaping.

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Union says NSW health system ‘at breaking point’ and calls for royal commission into funding

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Report commissioned by Health Services Union is scathing of failure to invest in community and preventative healthcare

The Health Services Union has called for a royal commission into New South Wales’ funding for health and hospitals, claiming in a new report that the system is “at breaking point” because it incentivises unnecessary or expensive procedures, rather than primary or preventive healthcare.

The report, prepared for the HSU by Impact Economics and Policy, says the “fragmented” nature of the health system intrenched inequality and did not produce the best outcomes for the money spent.

10% of people in NSW waited more than two hours after calling for an ambulance from July to September;

Patient complaints about healthcare services have increased 40% since the start of the pandemic, and 144% since 2011-12;

1,000 hospital beds in NSW are occupied by people staying longer than recommended who could be in aged care or are NDIS participants, costing about $500m a year;

Overservicing is a significant problem. For example, half of all babies born in private hospitals are delivered by caesarean section, three times the rate recommended by the World Health Organization;

Half of almost 4,500 Health Services Union workers surveyed said they were considering leaving the profession within the next five years.

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Fines against WA climate protester ‘absurdly excessive’, Human Rights Watch says; refund for Myki charges during outage – As it happened

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Activist pleaded guilty on Friday to criminal damage. This blog is now closed

Productivity commission report will be released in March

Chalmers says he has received a five-year review from the productivity commission about how Australia can respond to flagging productivity across the Australian economy.

I’d like to do that sooner, ideally in May, so that we can have this national debate about our productivity performance and some of the recommendations in there. Now, inevitably, a government won’t pick up and run with every single one of the recommendations from the Productivity Commission, but there may be some that we can run with. There will be some that align with the government’s economic plan and our policy objectives.

No doubt people will want to ask him about that and he can explain it. I think there’s a broader issue here about how the bank communicates the context for its decisions. This is one of the things that I have been discussing with the RBA Review Panel. I actually discussed it with them on Friday in one of the regular meetings that I have with the review panel, how they communicate their decisions and the context behind their decisions is one of the key focuses of that review.

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Nurses set to withdraw from A&E and intensive care units as strike intensifies

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UK’s biggest nursing union prompts alarm among senior officials by calling on intensive care workers to join walkouts

The UK’s biggest nursing union is preparing an escalation of its pay dispute with the government that will see members working in emergency departments, intensive care units and cancer care services being asked to join the next round of strikes.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is also planning to announce the first continuous 48-hour strikes running through two days and two nights, rather than limiting walkouts to the 12 hours from 8am to 8pm, as they have done to date.

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Children in mental health crisis spent more than 900,000 hours in A&E in England

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Exclusive: Children as young as three in emergency departments for mental health problems, data obtained by Labour reveals

‘We are letting young people down’: the secret psychiatrist on NHS delays

Children suffering mental health crises spent more than 900,000 hours in A&E in England last year seeking urgent and potentially life-saving help, NHS figures reveal.

Experts said the huge amount of time under-18s with mental health issues were spending in A&E was “simply astounding” and showed that NHS services for that vulnerable age group were inadequate.

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‘Crazy interesting’ findings by Australian researchers may reveal key to Covid immunity

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University of Sydney scientists have found a receptor protein which ‘acts a bit like molecular velcro, in that it sticks to the spike of the virus’

Australian researchers have found a protein in the lungs that sticks to the Covid-19 virus like velcro and immobilises it, which may explain why some people never become sick with the virus while others suffer serious illness.

The research was led by Greg Neely, a professor of functional genomics with the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre in collaboration with Dr Lipin Loo, a postdoctoral researcher and Matthew Waller, a PhD student. Their findings were published in the journal PLOS Biology on Friday.

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Fifth Covid vaccine for Australian adults to roll out later this month

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Omicron-specific dose will be available for over-18s who have not had a booster or a confirmed coronavirus case in past six months

A fifth Covid vaccine dose will be made available to Australian adults from later this month.

The health minister, Mark Butler, has announced all adults who have not had a booster or a confirmed case of Covid-19 in the past six months will be eligible for another dose from 20 February, after the government accepted the advice of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (Atagi).

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Dozens of lawsuits claim hair relaxers cause cancer and other health problems

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Suits that say beauty companies knew products contained dangerous chemicals to be consolidated in Chicago court

Nearly 60 lawsuits claiming hair relaxer products sold by L’Oréal and other companies cause cancer and other health problems will be consolidated in a Chicago federal court, according to a Monday order from the US judicial panel on multidistrict litigation.

At least 57 lawsuits have been filed in federal courts across the country over the products, which use chemicals to permanently straighten textured hair, court records show. The lawsuits allege the companies knew their products contained dangerous chemicals but marketed and sold them anyway.

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Prescribing MDMA and psilocybin: who will get the drugs and how will they help?

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Explainer: doctors say the drugs can help patients work through psychotherapy for PTSD – a condition that will affect one in five people in their lifetimes

From July, psychiatrists will be able to prescribe MDMA (ecstasy) and psilocybin (found in magic mushrooms) for mental health disorders.

There have long been predictions that psychedelics could “transform” psychiatry, and many clinical trials around the world have had promising results.

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