Category Archives: Health

One in two young Australians experienced stressors during pandemic, data shows

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People aged 18 to 24 had to deal with mental ill health or job woes far more than older people, Australian Bureau of Statistics finds

Young people have experienced more stressors than older Australians throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, according to new data.

On Friday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released new figures from its National Health Survey, on stressors, diet and breastfeeding. The survey collected information from 11,000 households around the country between August 2020 and June 2021.

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NHS to offer women in England drug that cuts recurrence of breast cancer

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Abemaciclib can improve chances of certain type of cancer not returning after surgery by more than 30%

Thousands of women in England with breast cancer are to benefit from a new pill on the NHS which reduces the risk of the disease coming back.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has given the green light to abemaciclib, which cuts the chance of breast cancer returning after a patient has had surgery to remove a tumour.

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Australian Medical Association calls for overhaul of national cabinet secrecy rules

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Omar Khorshid says Australians ‘have a right to know’ what is discussed, ahead of Anthony Albanese’s meeting with states and territories

Secrecy rules should not “automatically” apply to national cabinet documents and deliberations, the head of the Australian Medical Association has said.

Omar Khorshid made the comments ahead of Anthony Albanese’s first meetings with the state and territory leaders on Thursday evening. Friday’s meeting is expected to deliver major changes to the intergovernmental body, including a greater productivity reform focus.

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Doctors warn against over-medicalising menopause after UK criticism

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Seeing natural event as hormone deficiency requiring treatment could increase women’s anxiety, say medics

Doctors have hit back at critics saying they are failing menopausal women, and said that treating menopause as a hormone deficiency that requires medical treatment could fuel negative expectations and make matters worse.

Writing in the British Medical Journal they said there was an urgent need for a more realistic and balanced narrative which actively challenges the idea that menopause is synonymous with an inevitable decline in women’s health and wellbeing, and called for continued efforts to improve awareness about the symptoms and how to deal with them.

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Is UK at start of new Covid wave driven by BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants?

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Virus may be evolving to refavour infecting lung tissue. We assess what this could mean for the course of the pandemic

If you thought Covid-19 was dead and gone, think again. Early signs indicate that the UK may be at the start of a new wave of Covid infections driven by BA.4 and BA.5 – while new data suggests these variants may have evolved to refavour infecting lung tissue, which could make them more dangerous.

So what can we expect in the coming weeks and months?

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NSW residents urged to conserve power – as it happened

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Paul Erickson speaks at National Press Club; Bowen says energy system ‘under pressure’; AEC says it will not conduct a recount in federal seat of Gilmore; foreign affairs minister’s first trip to Solomon Islands since security deal with China; Victoria records 18 Covid deaths, NSW records 14. This blog is now closed

Quick note:

NSW is reporting 7,260 new Covid cases and 14 deaths this morning.

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Most emergency patients in NSW seen within 30 minutes during Omicron outbreak, report suggests

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NSW Health secretary says emergency departments remain under significant pressure due to high Covid-19 and flu cases

During the peak of the Omicron outbreak the majority of emergency department patients in New South Wales were seen within 30 minutes, a new report from the Bureau of Health Information (BHI) has revealed.

The report, which covers the period of January to March 2022, looks at how the health system coped with the thousands of daily Covid cases during the Omicron wave.

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Australia news live updates: Queensland on brink of power outage as eastern states battle big chill; WA to shut state-owned coal plants

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Penny Wong to visit New Zealand foreign minister; at least 31 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

Lack of reserve notice from energy regulator

It’s going to be a long day by the looks of it when it comes to “lack of reserve” notices and intervention by the Australian Energy Market Operator, such as this early one in NSW:

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Improved disease control in public buildings ‘could save UK billions a year’

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Measures such as improved ventilation would boost economy by helping prevent ill health, says report

Mandating improved ventilation and other forms of disease control in public buildings could save the UK economy billions of pounds each year through the prevention of ill health and its societal impacts, according to a report.

It is the first study to comprehensively evaluate the health, social and economic costs of airborne infections, including Covid. Even without a pandemic, seasonal respiratory diseases cost the UK about £8bn a year in disruption and sick days, said the report by the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers. In the event of another severe pandemic within the next 60 years, the societal cost could be as high as £23bn a year.

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New $750m cancer centre announced for Queenslanders ahead of state budget

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New Queensland Cancer Centre at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital to add 150 beds to health system

Queensland cancer patients will be able to access specialist treatments at a new $750m centre, a move which is expected to ease pressure on crowded public hospitals.

On Monday the premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, announced the new Queensland Cancer Centre at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s hospital will receive funding in next Tuesday’s budget.

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Ryan says supporters have received ‘threatening’ letters – as it happened

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Independent MP for Kooyong says some supporters have received anonymous handwritten letters; nation records at least 11 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

Standing proud in the Nadesalingams’ Biloela back yard is a rusty old Hills Hoist.

Birds squawk in the paperbark trees lining the road as mum Priya strolls in and out of the kitchen, determined to make sure we are looked after, offering us tea and water.

It was such an extraordinary time, and things were moving so quickly early ... the advice to the various governments at the time were really monumental.

It was quite terrifying ... we would do what the data was [saying], the experts together provided advice. In the end, Australians have done very well and turned up and got their vaccinations and we managed to live through some significant lockdowns and have come out of this better than many other countries.

We live in a great country with a great health system and I was confident we would be able to get our way through this, we still are not out of it, Covid is still here ... if you haven’t had that third dose vaccination, have it.

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Food plan for England condemned by its own lead adviser

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Henry Dimbleby says government’s response to his review of food system shows no vision and ‘is not a strategy’

The government’s lead adviser on food issues has condemned what ministers have billed as a landmark national plan to combat food poverty and obesity, saying it is “not a strategy” and warning it could mean more children will go hungry.

Henry Dimbleby’s verdict is further bad news for Boris Johnson as the white paper is a direct response to last year’s wide-ranging review of Britain’s food system, which was led by the restaurateur.

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Health experts dominate Australia’s Queen’s birthday honours for work during pandemic

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Brendan Murphy, Kerry Chant, Jeannette Young and Mary-Louise McLaws among recipients recognised for their work on Covid

A Covid honour roll has again dominated the Queen’s birthday honours list, with former chief health officer Dr Brendan Murphy appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), one of 92 people who have been recognised for their work during the pandemic.

The New South Wales chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, was awarded an AO for “distinguished service to the people of NSW through public health administration and governance, and to medicine”.

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Australia’s monthly flu cases more than doubled previous record in May

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Experts say the world will be watching as the country becomes one of the first to experience Covid and a simultaneous influenza season spike

Australia has had its worst May on record when it comes to flu cases, prompting experts to warn this season will redefine what it means to be ready for the virus.

The national disease surveillance system reported about 65,770 confirmed influenza cases in May – more than double the month’s previous record, which was set in 2019.

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NHS needs reform rather than more money to deliver, Sajid Javid says

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Health secretary says service has enough resources but admits waiting lists will grow before they shrink

The NHS needs reform rather than more money, the health secretary has said, while admitting that record-high waiting lists will continue to rise before they fall.

Sajid Javid said the health service already had the resources it needed and did not require more to care for patients effectively. “The NHS now has locked in the resources it needs. It doesn’t need any more money. What it needs to deliver for more people is not money. It needs reform,” he said.

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Nearly 70% of veterinarians have lost a colleague or peer to suicide, study finds

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Australian research shows six in 10 have sought professional help for their mental health

New research shows nearly 70% of veterinarians have lost a colleague or peer to suicide and about six in 10 have sought professional help for their mental health.

For those with decades of experience, including former Australian Veterinary Association national president Dr Warwick Vale, the figures come as no surprise.

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Australia’s aged care homes urged to speed up fourth-dose Covid boosters as outbreaks and deaths rise

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Federal ministers Mark Butler and Anika Wells warn providers with low vaccination rates will have to explain themselves

Ministers Mark Butler and Anika Wells have told aged care providers to act “with a sense of urgency” and speed up their fourth-dose Covid vaccinations as the sector continues to grapple with almost 700 outbreaks and a growing death toll.

The aged care ministers have also warned providers with low vaccination rates they would be required to explain themselves and show how they would turn around sluggish booster rates.

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China calls theory that Covid originated in Chinese lab ‘politically motivated lie’

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WHO report has said origins of virus are still unknown and recommended further investigation

China has repeated its assertion the theory that the Covid-19 pandemic began with a leak from a Chinese laboratory is “a politically motivated lie”, after the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended continued investigations this week.

“The lab leak theory is totally a lie concocted by anti-China forces for political purposes, which has nothing to do with science,” the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a daily briefing on Friday.

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Labor says Dutton ‘desperate’ to distract from defence failures – as it happened

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Nadesalingam family arrive back home to Biloela; New Zealand ‘heartened’ by Albanese government’s climate stance; Australia records at least 40 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

Jacinda Ardern will be raising Australia’s controversial deportation policy in today’s meeting. Asked if she has knowledge of whether the government is prepared to “water it down a little bit”, she replies:

Just to be clear, the issue we have is not with deportation. We deport as well. If a New Zealander comes to Australia and commits a crime, send them home ... but when someone comes here and essentially, hasn’t even really had any connection with New Zealand at all ... have all their connections in Australia and are essentially Australian, sending them back to New Zealand, that’s where we’ve had the grievance.

I’ve heard the prime minister prior to winning the election speak to his acknowledgement that that is the part of the policy that we’ve taken issue with. Even that acknowledgement says to me he’s hearing us, he knows it’s a problem.

It’s been a bugbear for us for a long time so I would like to see movement on it.

We talked about music on occasion but I’m not sure I would’ve picked necessarily the right music if I think I was given that task.

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Two directors of care provider charged with criminal neglect over death of Ann Marie Smith

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The 54-year-old, who had cerebral palsy, died in 2020 from septic shock, multiple organ failure, severe pressure sores and malnourishment

Two directors of the care provider for Adelaide woman Ann Marie Smith have been charged with criminal neglect over her death.

Smith – who had cerebral palsy – died in hospital in April 2020 from septic shock, multiple organ failure, severe pressure sores and malnourishment.

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