Category Archives: Health

Australia’s taxes ‘inadequate’ for ‘adequate services’, former secretary of finance warns

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Michael Keating to call for revenue review at Australia Institute summit as Labor provides update on multinational tax avoidance

Australia’s taxes are “inadequate” to finance government responsibilities including for aged care and defence, a former head of the finance department has warned.

Michael Keating, the secretary of the Department of Finance from 1986 to 1991, will call for a review of revenue at the progressive thinktank the Australia Institute’s revenue summit on Friday. The call is aimed at sparking debate about methods to close the tax gap including congestion charging, lifting and broadening the goods and services tax and adjusting the stage-three income tax cuts.

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Young people think vapes aren’t harmful because they are so easy to buy, study finds

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More than a third of young adults are vaping and many of them are doing it even though they know vapes contain nicotine, Cancer Council data shows

More than one-third of young adults are using e-cigarettes, and almost three-quarters of parents suspect their child is vaping, a new study has found.

Young people can easily access vapes and availability is leading to a perception products are not harmful, according to public health experts.

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Several hospitalised in Austria after using suspected fake diabetes drug

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Health regulator says serious side-effects possibly caused by insulin in counterfeit versions of Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic

Several people have been admitted to hospital in Austria after using suspected fake versions of Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug Ozempic, the country’s health safety body has said, the first report of harm to users as a European hunt for counterfeiters widened.

The patients were reported to have suffered hypoglycaemia and seizures, serious side-effects that indicate that the product contained insulin instead of Ozempic’s active ingredient semaglutide, the health safety regulator Bundesamt für Sicherheit im Gesundheitswesen (BASG) said on Monday.

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Fury at year-long Home Office delay over protest buffer zones at UK abortion clinics

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Suella Braverman accused by MP Stella Creasy of denying will of parliament in passing safe access law

Pro-choice MPs and activists have expressed their frustration at the government’s failure to implement a law on buffer zones around abortion clinics one year after 297 MPs voted in favour of the zones and as women face a new wave of protests when accessing reproductive care.

A Home Office spokesperson told the Observer that timelines would be confirmed “in due course” but refused to explain why the law was not yet in force and failed to confirm if a consultation on safe-access zones legislation had been launched.

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Labor MPs air clashing views over Israel-Hamas conflict – as it happened

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This blog is now closed

Abbott suggests ‘scaling back’ on ‘separatism’ after no referendum vote

Former prime minister Tony Abbott has some ... opinions ... on what the defeat of the voice referendum means the country should do next. It’s fair to say they’re not uncontroversial.

Flying the Aboriginal flag co-equally (as if Australia is a country of two nations) and the routine acknowledgement of country by all speakers at official events (as if those whose ancestry here stretches beyond 1788 are more Australian than anyone else).

The Department of Justice wishes to express deepest sympathies to the boy’s family, friends and community for their tragic loss. The department is continuing its investigation into all the circumstances of the incident.

The death will be subject to a mandatory inquest and the department will fully co-operate with the coronial process.

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Australia breaches WHO treaty with carbon neutral certification of big tobacco company

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Endorsement of British American Tobacco by Climate Active was revoked after complaint was made, FoI documents show

The government has been forced to revoke carbon neutral certification given to a big tobacco company after the endorsement was found to be in breach of a World Health Organization treaty to which Australia is a signatory.

Freedom of information documents show a complaint was made by the managing director of the Carbon Reduction Institute, Rob Cawthorne, to the health department in August 2022 about British American Tobacco (BAT) receiving the certification from Climate Active.

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Over the counter genetic tests in UK ‘fail to identify 89%’ of those at serious risk

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Study by University College London also says 5% of users are wrongly told they will develop major illness

Over the counter genetic tests in the UK that assess the risk of cancer or heart problems fail to identify 89% of those in danger of getting killer diseases, a new study has found.

Polygenic risk scores are so unreliable that they also wrongly tell one in 20 people who receive them they will develop a major illness, even though they do not go on to do so.

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Australia politics live: Albanese accuses Ley of lack of respect for Indigenous voice campaigners in fiery question time

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Albanese highlights ‘concerning’ Coalition voice rhetoric as Dutton targets PM over treaty and truth telling. Follow the day’s news live

‘We’re holding a thorough consultation process,’ Jacinta Allan says

Under the proposal, a government minister will appoint commissioners, though the Greens-chaired integrity and oversight committee will have the power to veto candidates.

A new parliamentary ethics committee

Improvements to mechanisms relating to public interest disclosures about MPs

Updates to the MP code of conduct

We’re holding a thorough consultation process to ensure we achieve the highest standards of conduct and integrity of MPs in all aspects of their work for Victorians.

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Gambling firms to be forced to pay about £100m a year to NHS

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Levy will be used to fund addiction research, prevention and treatment as part of government overhaul

Gambling companies will be forced to pay about £100m a year to the NHS to fund addiction research, prevention and treatment, as part of government changes that will replace a longstanding system of voluntary contributions.

Under a mandatory levy, which has been welcomed by clinicians and campaigners, online bookmakers and casinos will pay 1% of what they win from punters.

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Revealed: how a little-known pollution rule keeps the air dirty for millions of Americans

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Major investigation shows local governments are increasingly exploiting a loophole in the Clean Air Act, leaving more than 21 million Americans with air that’s dirtier than they realize

A legal loophole has allowed the US Environmental Protection Agency to strike pollution from clean air tallies in more than 70 counties, enabling local regulators to claim the air was cleaner than it really was for more than 21 million Americans.

Regulators have exploited a little-known provision in the Clean Air Act called the “exceptional events rule” to forgive pollution caused by “natural” or “uncontrollable” events – including wildfires – on records used by the EPA for regulatory decisions, a new investigation from The California Newsroom, MuckRock and the Guardian reveals.

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BMA in secret talks with government to end strikes by NHS consultants

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Deal on table would give consultants another 6% rise on top of the 6% Rishi Sunak described as final

Government officials and doctors’ leaders are holding secret talks with the aim of ending strikes by hospital consultants before the start of the NHS’s winter crisis.

In a remarkable move, the deal under discussion would give consultants in England a hefty further pay rise for this year in return for calling off their stoppages. That is despite Rishi Sunak’s previous insistence that he would not revisit the 6% award he described as final.

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Australia news live: Minns says NSW police response to pro-Palestine rally will be ‘reasonable and proportionate’; voice referendum latest updates

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Follow today’s news live, including the latest updates on the voice referendum

A strong no vote could hold back reforms in Indigenous affairs, Wyatt says

Ken Wyatt said he doesn’t think the government has made a mistake deciding against legislating the voice if the referendum is defeated, but he fears what a strong no vote will mean for the future of Indigenous affairs:

We’ve got to respect what Australians are saying if there is an overwhelming no majority …

The fear I have now is with a strong no, whether the government will become reticent to be adventurous on doing significant reforms in the future in the Aboriginal affairs portfolio, and on programs and policies that could reshape the landscape of Aboriginal affairs and the way in which Aboriginal people access the plethora of services that we all take for granted across this nation as our inherent right.

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Queensland police lodge complaint to hospital over treatment of alleged teenage rape victim

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Exclusive: Central Queensland child protection investigation unit complained after family reported alleged assault in August

Queensland police lodged an official complaint to a hospital in August about the treatment of an alleged teen rape victim who said she left the facility feeling “humiliated” without undergoing a full examination.

The Central Queensland child protection investigation unit complained to the hospital after learning of the girl’s alleged assault from her family.

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Children should get one healthy school meal a day, say EU experts

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Nutritious lunches should be seen as an effective way to address obesity, chronic illness and poverty, says coalition

Children across Europe must receive at least one nutritious school meal a day if governments want to tackle rising obesity rates, prevent chronic illnesses and reduce social inequalities, according to a coalition of experts.

Nearly a third of primary school-age children in Europe are either overweight or obese, while almost a quarter of children in the EU are at risk of poverty or social exclusion.

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Zimbabwe bans large gatherings as threat of cholera outbreak grows

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Cases are rising in many parts of the country and critics are blaming chronic water shortages and poor sanitation systems

The Zimbabwean government has banned large gatherings in parts of the country and increased surveillance at ports of entry in an effort to contain a rise in cholera cases.

With 100 suspected deaths, most of them in September, and nearly 5,000 possible cases of the water-borne disease in more than 41 districts, including Harare, authorities fear a repeat of the 2008 epidemic where 4,000 people died.

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Dementia risk factors pose more danger for ethnic minorities, finds study

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Conditions such as diabetes and obesity are said to magnify risk of south Asian and black people developing the disease

The most common risk factors for dementia appear to have a more pronounced effect in black and Asian people, a study suggests, prompting calls for greater efforts to tackle health inequalities.

The number of adults living with dementia worldwide is on course to nearly triple to 153 million by 2050. Experts say the disease presents a major and rapidly growing threat to future health and social care systems in every community, country and continent.

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FGM ban in the Gambia under threat as calls grow to repeal law

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Women’s rights campaigners denounce ‘hugely regressive’ proposals from political and religious leaders to decriminalise practice

Political and religious leaders in the Gambia are threatening to introduce a bill to decriminalise female genital mutilation, eight years after the practice was outlawed.

Members of the country’s national assembly have backed a proposal for the 2015 law to be scrapped while the Supreme Islamic Council has issued a fatwa condemning anyone who denounces the practice and calling for the government to reconsider the legislation.

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Abortions in North Carolina drop by 30% in wake of new restrictions, data shows

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Nearby states didn’t see similar increases, suggesting those denied abortions in the state are self-managing, or going without

Abortions in North Carolina fell by more than 30% after the state enacted new abortion restrictions on 1 July, including a 12-week abortion ban, new data released on Wednesday by the Guttmacher Institute shows.

North Carolina abortion clinics performed more than 4,200 abortions in June, but just 2,920 abortions in July. Nearby states did not see a comparable surge in abortions, suggesting that patients denied abortions in North Carolina had to self-manage their own – or simply went without.

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Worries over confidence and periods hitting UK girls’ enjoyment of PE

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Survey finds less than two-thirds say they enjoy PE in schools, down from 74% in 2016

Girls’ enjoyment of physical education in school has declined over the past six years, with a lack of confidence, concern about periods and anxiety about their appearance holding them back, according to research.

Less than two-thirds of girls and young women (64%) who took part in a survey this year by the UK charity the Youth Sport Trust (YST), said they enjoyed PE, down from 74% when the poll began in 2016.

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Lack of data on sexual harassment among Australian medical workers condemned as ‘inexplicable’

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Workplace expert wants Medical Board of Australia to include specific question on sexual harassment in survey of workforce

A former medical director of the United Nations has called on Australia’s regulator of health professionals to specifically ask about sexual harassment in its regular survey of trainee doctors, saying it is “inexplicable” that this data is not collected.

The Medical Board of Australia (MBA) sponsors the medical training survey, a longitudinal survey that tracks the quality of medical training and questions respondents on workplace culture, including experiences of harassment, racism, discrimination and bullying.

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