Category Archives: Health

Coalition announce emissions policy after joint party room; more magic sand products recalled over asbestos contamination – as it happened

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Total fire ban in parts of New South Wales

While a storm system continues to affect parts of New South Wales’ east, the state’s west faces extreme fire danger.

I expect it will be pretty much what the Nationals have wanted all along because it’s been really clear that they have set the agenda in terms of the energy and climate policy of the Liberal Party.

I’m genuinely concerned and genuinely disappointed that this has happened because we do need to take action on climate change.

I think my a lot of my community will be going ‘Why on earth has the Coalition done this if they are seeking to ever take back seats’ like mine?

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UK warned that 15% cut to health fund will force ‘impossible choices’ on Africa

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Advocates fear that other donors will follow Britain’s reduction to the Global Fund for Aids, TB and malaria

The UK is undermining its legacy in fighting infectious diseases including Aids and malaria by cutting money pledged to a leading global health fund, campaigners claim.

The 15% reduction in the contribution to the Global Fund for Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria announced this week – in a year when the UK, alongside South Africa, is co-host of the fund’s replenishment drive – risks encouraging other countries to cut back commitments as well, advocates fear.

The Gates Foundation is a major private contributor to the Global Fund. The foundation also contributes to theguardian.org, which funds independent journalism at the Guardian

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Treasury won’t cut threshold for higher rate income tax, say sources – UK politics live

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Fallout continues over budget income tax U-turn, with Treasury saying expected fiscal gap has dropped to £20bn

This is from Helen Miller, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies thinktank, on the market reaction to the chancellor’s reported budget U-turn.

Investors will have 2 broad concerns about news that Chancellor won’t increase income tax rates

1. Does it signal less willingness to do politically difficult things

Britain’s long-term borrowing costs were sent soaring as reports suggested the latest U-turn would leave Rachel Reeves scrambling to fill a gaping black hole in the nation’s finances just two weeks before the 26 November budget.

Yields on 30-year UK government bonds, also known as gilts, jumped as much as 14 basis points in early trading, and the yield on 10-year gilts also shot up 12 basis points – rising the most since July.

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NHS staff who visit patients at home say St George’s flags can mean ‘no-go zones’

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Black and Asian staff left feeling ‘deliberately intimidated’, according to chief executive of one NHS trust

NHS staff who care for patients in their own homes fear some areas have become “no-go zones” for them because of the presence of St George’s flags, health leaders have said.

Black and Asian staff have been left feeling “deliberately intimidated” as a result of the flags that were put up in many parts of England during the summer, according to the chief executive of one NHS trust in England, who asked to remain anonymous.

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No link between paracetamol in pregnancy and autism or ADHD in children, review finds

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Wide-ranging review finds no convincing connection after Trump said women should ‘fight like hell’ to avoid painkiller

A wide-ranging review into paracetamol use by pregnant women has found no convincing link between the common painkiller and the chances of children being diagnosed with autism and ADHD.

Publication of the work was fast-tracked to provide prospective mothers and their doctors with reliable information after the Trump administration urged pregnant women to avoid paracetamol – also known as acetaminophen or Tylenol – claiming it was contributing to rising rates of autism.

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Australia news live: Crisafulli declares end to ‘cannoli diplomacy’ with Albanese over lack of hospital funding

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BoM’s axing of free flood forecasting ‘potentially deadly consequences’

Natural disaster-prone councils in south-east Queensland say the Bureau of Meteorology’s decision to axe its free real-time flood forecasting tool is a “cost shifting” exercise with “potentially deadly consequences”, with New South Wales emergency services also affected.

The main treatment for viral gastroenteritis is to rest and drink plenty of fluids. Most people recover without complications, but more urgent care may need to be sought for infants, people with suppressed immune systems, and the elderly, who may experience more serious illness.

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Davina McCall reveals she has undergone surgery for breast cancer

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Presenter says she is ‘in a much more positive place’ after having lumpectomy and catching cancer early

Davina McCall has revealed she has undergone surgery for breast cancer and urged others to “get checked”.

In a video posted to Instagram, the presenter said she was “very angry” when she found out about the cancer, but felt in a “much more positive place” after a lumpectomy.

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Nationwide recall of alfalfa sprouts linked to ‘unusual strain’ of salmonella after dozens infected across Australia

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Health authorities urge consumers not to eat affected products sold in multiple supermarkets and grocers

Health authorities have issued a nationwide recall of alfalfa sprouts, urging people not to eat affected products, after at least 44 people across Australia contracted an unusual strain of salmonella.

The recall applied to 125g packets of sprouts produced by Parilla Fresh, which included: Aussie Sprouts Alfalfa Sprouts, Hugo’s Alfalfa Onion & Garlic Sprouts, Hugo’s Alfalfa & Radish Sprouts, Hugo’s Alfalfa & Onion Sprouts, Hugo’s Salad Sprouts, Hugo’s Alfalfa & Broccoli Sprouts and Hugo’s Trio Sprouts Selection.

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UK troops treated for hearing problems in final tests of Ajax armoured vehicle

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The £5.5bn model was classified as fit for army deployment in September but soldiers continue to raise health fears

Soldiers had to be given medical treatment for hearing problems this summer during final testing of the British army’s new Ajax armoured vehicle, whose introduction has been delayed for several years amid concerns about deafness.

The model, which costs £5.5bn for 589 vehicles, was nevertheless classified as fit for deployment in September. An investigation concluded there were “no systemic issues” – but there remain health concerns among the troops involved.

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Footage of guards holding down and putting spit hood on disabled NT prisoner shown at inquest

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Wayne Hunt didn’t receive full medical assessment after seizure in cell and died days later, coroner hears

Confronting footage of a disabled inmate being roughly handled and placed in a spit hood by prison guards after an epileptic seizure has been played at an inquest into his death.

Wayne Hunt struggled and yelled as Northern Territory corrections officers pinned him down, held him tightly by the head and put him in handcuffs and a spit hood, the inquest before coroner Elisabeth Armitage has heard.

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NHS staff face ‘ugly’ racism akin to the 70s and 80s, says Wes Streeting

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Health secretary and NHS England chief warn of winter pressures and rising levels of abuse

An “ugly” racism reminiscent of the 1970s and 1980s has become worryingly commonplace again in modern Britain and NHS staff are bearing the brunt of it, Wes Streeting has warned.

Incidents of verbal and physical abuse based on people’s skin colour now happen so often that it has become “socially acceptable to be racist”, the health secretary said.

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Australia politics live: Greens say secret Nauru deportations ‘not how any democracy should behave’

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Shoebridge accuses Labor of being ‘addicted to secrecy’. Follow today’s news live

Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with some of the best overnight stories before Krishani Dhanji takes the controls.

Asio chief Mike Burgess gave a speech at the Lowy Institute in Sydney last night in which he said there were “at least” three countries whose governments were prepared to carry out assassinations on Australian soil. Asked whether it was too alarming, Burgess said that it was “incredibly important” for Australians to understand the dangers the country faced.

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Many GPs ‘nervous’ about bulk-billing rollout under new Medicare scheme

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Royal Australian College of General Practitioners says doctors concerned at being ‘100% reliant on government funding decisions’

Every electorate in the country will have a GP practice that bulk bills every patient after the expanded bulk billing incentive came into effect this month, the health minister has said.

The changes mean four out of 10 practices will be fully bulk billing, as the government vows it will bring the number up to nine out of 10 by 2030.

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Has OpenAI really made ChatGPT better for users with mental health problems?

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Prompts indicating suicidal ideation got alarming replies, which experts say shows ‘how easy it is to break the model’

An OpenAI statement released this week claimed the company had made its popular service ChatGPT better at supporting users experiencing mental health problems like suicidal ideation or delusions, but experts tell the Guardian they need to do more to truly ensure users are protected.

The Guardian tested several prompts indicating suicidal ideation with the ChatGPT GPT-5 updated model, which is now the default, and got alarming responses from the large language model (LLM) chatbot.

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Australia news live: Nationals set to formalise position after vote to ditch net zero; more rain forecast after storms and hail lash Queensland and northern NSW

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Meanwhile PM says he’d like ‘more cooperation’ between China and US on artificial intelligence. Follow updates live

Watt says Labor doesn’t have a policy to end native forest logging

Asked if he wanted native forest logging to continue (it’s not banned in the legislation, despite the significant negative environmental impact that it has), Watt dodges the question by saying the party doesn’t have a specific policy of ending native forest logging.

What we have said, though, is that we will follow the recommendation from Graeme Samuel to apply national environmental standards to the regional forestry agreements that are used for native forestry, so what that means in practice is that native forestry would need to meet higher environmental standards than are currently required under the legislation. That’s a big step forward in terms of the environmental management of native forestry. But it doesn’t go as far as what the Greens party is seeking in being an all-out ban.

Not in its own right. We haven’t taken the approach of saying that particular projects are altogether banned. Every project will be assessed on its merits whether it be a coal and gas project, whether it be a housing and renewable project, they have all got to demonstrate they’re not having a significant impact on one of the nine matters of national environmental significance under the act.

If a coal or gas development was seeking approval, then it would need to meet the national environmental standards. It would need to avoid and minimise its environmental impacts and offset them to achieve a net gain. So they would be improvements compared to the criteria that apply to a project at the moment. If it was considered to have an unacceptable impact on the environment then it would get knocked back as would a housing development or a renewable project.

We’re not trying to sort of put in particular criteria for particular sectors. What we’re trying to do is put in a balanced package for all sorts of projects, for all industries, that deliver environmental and business gains.

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Nearly 150,000 aged 90 and above wait 12 hours in England’s A&Es each year

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Older people left in their own excrement and wet beds for hours and forced to watch others die, Age UK report finds

Almost 150,000 people aged 90 and over in England are forced to wait longer than 12 hours in A&E every year, with some experiencing “truly shocking” waits of several days stuck in corridors, a report warns.

Older people are also being left in their own excrement and wet beds for hours, denied pain relief and forced to watch and hear other patients die next to them because they end up waiting so long for care, according to Age UK.

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State disability ministers threaten Butler with boycott over two-minute speaking limit at NDIS meeting

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Ministers say they will reconsider their attendance at the meeting if they get at least 10 minutes each

State and territory disability ministers have threatened to boycott an upcoming NDIS meeting with the Albanese government after being given just two minutes to contribute to discussions.

In a joint letter from all jurisdictions sent on Thursday to the health and disability minister, Mark Butler, and the NDIS minister, Jenny McAllister, ministers warned they were “no longer able to confirm” their attendance at the meeting next Friday unless given the opportunity to “meaningfully contribute”.

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Woman who overturned Queensland’s puberty blocker ban ‘not backing away from the fight’ after LNP reinstates it

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Exclusive: Parent who successfully challenged previous ban on children being prescribed hormones for gender dysphoria considers new lawsuit

The mother of a transgender child who successfully sued to overturn Queensland’s ban on puberty blockers and hormone treatments for children with gender dysphoria says she is “not backing away from the fight” after the government reinstated the ban hours after her supreme court victory.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is considering launching another lawsuit to overturn the health minister’s decision on Tuesday evening to issue a new order preventing patients under 18 and not already on a treatment plan from accessing the drugs in the public system.

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NHS makes morning-after pill available for free across pharmacies in England

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Those in need of free emergency contraception no longer have to see their GP or attend a sexual health clinic

The NHS has made the morning-after pill available for free across pharmacies in England in an effort to reduce a “postcode lottery” of access to emergency contraception.

Almost 10,000 pharmacies are now able to offer the pill without charge, saving those in need of free emergency contraception from having to visit their GP or to get an appointment at a sexual health clinic.

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Queensland puberty blocker ban reinstated by health minister hours after supreme court overturned it

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Move comes after parent successfully challenged LNP’s previous ban on new patients under 18 accessing hormone treatments for gender dysphoria

The Queensland health minister has issued a new order banning the prescription of puberty blockers for transgender patients, just hours after the state’s supreme court ruled the government’s first attempt was unlawful.

On Tuesday, Justice Peter Callaghan ruled in favour of a challenge by the parent of a transgender child, judging that the January directive establishing the ban was made improperly and was unlawful.

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