The government has failed to meet a self-set target of 500,000 registrations of its Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR) by July 1. As at June 30, the Department of Health and Ageing…
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Health – Articles, Analysis, Comment
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Despite living in a famously sunny country, we’ve been getting reports of widespread vitamin D deficiency for some time now. The solution to this problem is simply the judicious use of a plentiful, if…
In Australia, anyone who supports rules and regulations that make products safer or improve public health can expect to come under attack from critics arguing they’re restricting freedom and turning the…
The government will no longer refund 30% of the cost of the loading paid by people who take out private health insurance after the age of 30. The removal of the rebate from the lifetime health cover loading…
Changes to the National Immunisation Program schedule coming into effect today (July 1, 2013) will see two fewer injections given to young children. The changes represent a more efficient way of delivering…
The Coalition’s Policy to Protect and Streamline Health and Medical Research Funding is one of the first documents off the blocks this election. Short and sweet, it is designed to appeal to medical researchers…
Gone are the good old days when medicines had simple, easy to pronounce names such as aspirin, paracetamol and morphine. Nowadays pharmaceutical companies almost seem to revel in giving drugs names that…
One of the key platforms of the first Rudd government was to reform the health and hospital system. The key message from then-prime minister Kevin Rudd was that the health, and particularly hospitals…
Breastfeeding may be an ancient practice but we are learning new things about it all the time. My colleagues and I, for instance, have recently found that the lactating breast has the amazing ability to…
The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has attracted attention in the past week for two contradictory reasons: the Japanese government has withdrawn its recommendation for the shot, while public health…
Until a few years ago, it was assumed that humans were born with the maximum number of neurons that we were ever going to have. There was no chance of self-replenishment as we got older, or if we suffered…
Psychotherapy and psychological treatment are typically private processes, bound by the unique relationship between client and therapist, and by strict rules of confidentiality. But there’s a growing realisation…
Research claiming that men are to blame for menopause has gone viral in the popular media in the past week. But does the theoretical model’s fundamental assumption – that men prefer young women – stack…
Exodus International, the world’s largest “ex-gay” organisation announced this week that it will shut down. Founded in the United States in 1976, for most of its life Exodus sought to help gay people become…
Momentum is growing for a ban on alcohol advertising during live sports broadcasts, after Western Australian Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan lambasted the alcohol industry at a national alcohol forum…
Could a dire new infection sweep the world in a matter of weeks? Might the disease be so strange that it alters the behaviour of people beyond recognition, making them predatory and fearless? Could a great…
Australian patent law reforms are critical to ensuring Australians have access to vital health-care services and technologies and that people in developing countries have access to affordable, life-saving…
A government-appointed committee makes a recommendation that would save taxpayers $260 million within a year, but it’s ignored. And people at risk of heart attacks lose out. Let me explain via a ripping…
Patients will remain in the dark about whether their treating doctors receive payments from pharmaceutical companies that could influence prescribing habits, after a bill aimed at increasing transparency…
Iodine is naturally present in a range of food, especially seaweed and fish. So it may seem odd that the people of an island nation (most of whom live along its vast coastline) are not getting enough of…
A group of Australian doctors and academics has called on the Commonwealth government today to raise the legal drinking age to 21, in order to reduce the harms associated with early heavy drinking. According…
How many dealers did you visit before you last bought a car? Were you happy with the first quote you got for a painting job or kitchen renovation? When it comes to your finances, your house and your belongings…
For half the population, it comes three to five days each month, 12 months each year, for 40 years of our lives. Menstruation can be debilitating, relieving, disappointing, or simply an inconvenient fact…
Superfoods is a buzzword now part of mainstream food and health language, often touted as miracle foods that cure all ills, stave off ageing and disease, or aid weight loss. In practice, superfoods are…
All nine members of the US Supreme Court have ruled that isolated genetic material cannot be patented – unless the material is markedly different to what exists in nature. The court ruled against Myriad…