Food security is crucial to disease prevention and management, so prescribing healthy foods and reducing barriers to better diets makes sense. But food prescriptions should not be immune to scrutiny.
While the pandemic has focused the world’s attention on how to prevent infectious disease, many of the lessons learned from COVID-19 prevention can also be applied to chronic disease prevention.
There are many initiatives around Australia designed to keep people with chronic conditions out of hospital. But to take these further, the health system needs a ‘license to innovate’.
We’ve known for some time type 2 diabetes causes a range of health complications, like heart disease. But now we’re starting to see people with diabetes are more likely to get cancer and dementia too.
Aboriginal people are at greater risk of severe illness from COVID-19 than non-Aboriginal people. But plans to protect remote communities and keep the virus out are progressing too slowly.
The government must do more to deliver a 21st-century health system – not just to improve its standing with voters but to meet the health needs of all Australians.
Health is always a key factor in deciding which way to vote. So what have the major parties promised in health? And what could these changes mean for consumers?
The Commonwealth wants to partially reverse the cuts it made to public hospital funding in the 2014 budget. But the deal has some unwelcome strings attached.
Patients with chronic illness need support and encouragement to take their medications. SMS messaging is a simple, cheap and seemingly effective way to keep them on track.
A NSW Parliamentary Committee has recommended legalising the use of medical use of marijuana for people with terminal conditions. This is an approach that should be embraced nationally. For some years…
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne