Children’s parents and those who performed the procedure are in police custody, according to local reports
Police in Sierra Leone are investigating the deaths of three girls who underwent female genital mutilation (FGM).
Adamsay Sesay, 12; Salamatu Jalloh, 13; and Kadiatu Bangura, 17, died during initiation ceremonies in the country’s North West province last month, according to local reports.
Continue reading...Family of Lauren O’Neill told ‘we believe a NSW Ambulance staff member was responsible’ for leak after St Vincent’s hospital launched investigation
A New South Wales ambulance staff member is responsible for leaking an image of a shark bite victim’s injuries from inside the hospital, the state’s health department has revealed.
NSW Ambulance said in a statement on Thursday afternoon it had apologised to the family of Lauren O’Neill over the incident.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking to ABC RN, and says news that the inflation rate has plunged to a two-year low of 4.1% is “welcoming, encouraging progress”.
… We know that people are still under pressure and we need to not be complacent about it. We need to continue to work as we have with our three point plan, having the surplus, making sure we deal with cost of living pressures without putting pressure on inflation, and dealing with … supply-chain issues as well.
With parliament resuming next week, this is a wake-up call that 2024 is the last chance for meaningful democratic reform ahead of the 2025 election …
Australians should go to the next election with strict political donation disclosure laws, truth in political advertising laws in force and information about who’s meeting ministers made public as a matter of course.
Continue reading...Medicare’s universality under threat as chronic disease, mental illness and an aging population increase out-of-pocket costs, experts say
When Dr Brian Morton became a trainee general practitioner in 1977, healthcare bills were the number one cause of personal bankruptcies in Australia.
On more than one occasion Morton provided treatment to patients who couldn’t afford to pay. “If someone turned up, you wouldn’t turn them away,” he says.
Continue reading...MSF begins vaccine drive against incurable disease, which is spread via dirty water and kills thousands of pregnant women
A push to tackle an outbreak of hepatitis E in South Sudan is being hampered by flooding that has isolated populations and turned villages into islands.
A pioneering vaccination drive has begun to protect people against a spate of cases but the true scale of the disease outbreak is unknown.
Continue reading...Nature-based solutions such as parks and ponds are recommended – as is giving heatwaves names
The UK urgently needs a plan to prevent thousands of heatwave deaths a year as the climate continues to warm, a cross-party committee of MPs has warned.
More than 4,500 people died in heatwaves in 2022, the MPs’ report said, and this number could rise to 10,000 a year by 2050 without action. Heatwaves are “silent killers”, the MPs said, pushing up heart rate and blood pressure, with those over 65 and with existing health problems most at risk.
Continue reading...National Institute for Health and Care Excellence says national early warning score should be used to assess severity of illness
People who are severely ill with suspected sepsis should promptly be given life-saving access to antibiotics to prevent unnecessary deaths, according to updated guidance from a health watchdog.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has said that the national early warning score should be used to assess people with suspected sepsis aged 16 and over, who are not and have not recently been pregnant, and are in an acute hospital setting or ambulance.
Continue reading...Increase in cardiorespiratory levels of 3% annually found to be beneficial, Swedish research suggests
Men can reduce their risk of prostate cancer by as much as 35% by doing a little more jogging, cycling or swimming, a study suggests.
Boosting cardiorespiratory fitness by only 3% over the course of a year was linked to a much lower chance of developing the disease. The findings prompted the researchers to encourage men to boost their fitness levels to help cut their prostate cancer risk.
Continue reading...Almost nine out of 10 the shops are within walking distance of schools, WA audit discovers
Vape stores are concentrated around schools and in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities, Australian researchers have shown for the first time in an audit of dedicated shops in Western Australia.
The study led by researchers from the University of Notre Dame Australia and published on Wednesday in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health found almost nine out of 10 vape stores were within walking distance of schools.
Continue reading...Inquiry into invasive pest hears of risks species poses to health, agriculture and environment if it becomes endemic
Fire ants could sting 8.6 million Australians a year if they were to become endemic – but a pathogenic fungus and pesticide-loaded drones might help avert that scenario, according to submissions posed to the federal government’s fire ants inquiry.
Submissions to the Senate inquiry into red imported fire ants (Rifa) in Australia closed on Monday, just days after the latest in a string of fire ant detections beyond south-east Queensland, where an infestation of the invasive pest is ongoing.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed.
We’ve just spoken to St Vincent’s hospital and confirmed that the woman bitten by a shark in Sydney Harbour last night remains in hospital in a stable condition.
The woman, in her late 20s, was bitten on the right leg by a suspected bull shark in Elizabeth Bay last night.
Continue reading...CQC will conduct review into Nottinghamshire Healthcare in tandem with mental health homicide review
A troubled NHS trust that treated Valdo Calocane for paranoid schizophrenia before he killed three people in Nottingham last year is to be the subject of a special review.
Ministers said the review into Nottinghamshire Healthcare foundation trust would help provide answers to the families of Barnaby Webber, Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates, who were killed by Calocane last June.
Continue reading...Piano especially associated with improved mental processes in those over 40, Exeter University research finds
Playing a musical instrument or joining a choir is linked to better memory and thinking skills in older age, research has found.
The piano was especially associated with a better brain in those over 40 in the study from Exeter University, which reviewed data from more than a thousand adults and looked at how much experience the people had in participating in music.
Continue reading...Plans to make vaping less appealing also to include restricting fruity flavours and introducing plain packaging
Ministers are to ban disposable vapes as part of a UK-wide drive to curb youth vaping.
The government is also seeking to make vaping less appealing to children by restricting sweet and fruity flavours, introducing plain packaging and making displays less visible in shops, under newly announced powers. The changes are expected to come into effect towards the end of this year or early 2025.
Continue reading...Exclusive: environmental regulator has known for more than a decade that contaminated soil fill might have been used in childcare centres, schools and parks
The New South Wales environmental regulator has known for more than a decade that producers of soil fill made from construction and demolition waste were failing to comply with rules to limit the spread of contaminants such as lead and asbestos into the community.
Internal documents from the Environment Protection Authority (EPA), obtained by Guardian Australia, warned widespread breaches by industry meant potentially contaminated product might have been applied to land across the state, including at childcare centres, residential areas, schools and parks.
Continue reading...Women losing ‘everything’ after being accused of illegal abortion in England and Wales, even if not charged, says Dr Jonathan Lord
Women in England and Wales accused of having illegal abortions have been held in custody after pregnancy loss, had their children taken into care and been saddled with debt, an expert has said.
Dr Jonathan Lord, a co-chair of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) abortion taskforce, said he was aware of up to 30 “deeply traumatic” cases where women had been investigated by the police, with some suffering “life-changing harm”.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed.
Australian and Aboriginal flags raised during Canberra ceremony
Following the welcome to country, the flag-raising ceremony has begun, with six flags raised including two Australian flags, two Aboriginal flags and two Torres Strait Islander flags.
Australia is home to the oldest continuous culture on Earth, 65,000 years of uninterrupted heritage, demonstrated by the unique archeological evidence found in the very ground that you may are sitting on, found in the rocks and stones of this very place. That makes this continent unique in the whole world.
Ngunnawal’s view of heritage transcends time, it is our way of being with nature, best expressed in the Ngunnawal language through the concepts of respect and deep honour, coming together in the wellbeing for all.
Continue reading...Asbestos-like fragments found at newly-opened Regatta Park in Emu Plains sent for urgent testing, Penrith city council says
Penrith council has closed part of a park in western Sydney over fears it could contain asbestos-contaminated garden mulch from the same company that supplied the product used at Rozelle parklands.
Penrith city council says the newly opened Regatta Park at Emu Plains in the city’s west was partly closed after a review to determine if any mulch used by the council was provided by Greenlife Resource Recovery.
Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads
Continue reading...Inexpensive test can help diagnose even ‘inaccessible’ tumours earlier, speeding up treatment and improving outcomes
Surgeons and scientists have developed a world-first blood test for brain cancer that experts say could revolutionise diagnosis, speed up treatment and boost survival rates.
For years, brain tumours have remained notoriously difficult to diagnose. They affect hundreds of thousands of people worldwide each year, and kill more children and adults under the age of 40 in the UK than any other cancer.
Continue reading...Bloc plans to bulk-buy key drugs for all 27 countries, potentially leaving Britain ‘behind in the queue’
The EU is to stockpile key medicines that will worsen the record drug shortages in the UK, with experts warning that the country could be left “behind in the queue”.
The EU is seeking to safeguard its supplies by switching to a system in which its 27 members work together to secure reliable supplies of 200 commonly used medications, such as antibiotics, painkillers and vaccines.
Continue reading...