Author: healthprofessionalradio

Overview:
• During an interview on ABC Radio National, Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley insists the Government is not privatising Medicare but is only looking at ways to bring the payments system into the “21st century”.

• According to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, the 2016 Closing the Gap report shows there has been no progress in raising the life expectancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

• Two families of stillborn babies delivered at the Bacchus Marsh hospital have received compensation payouts from Victoria’s insurer for the psychological trauma they suffered after losing their babies.

Overview:
• Yes, it sounds like something out of a bad science fiction novel — or maybe an X-Men comic — but it’s true: people with paralysis might soon be able to use mind control to walk again. The size of the device is of a paper clip, and it sits inside a blood vessel next to your brain.

• Consumer watchdog the ACCC is currently reviewing dozens of IVF clinics amid mounting complaints about the lack of transparency of IVF success rates, with consumers saying they are in the dark about their chances of conceiving at different clinics.

• The head of the Australian Childhood Foundation, Dr Joe Tucci, told the Porn Harms Kids seminar that the widespread availability of pornography online was shaping children’s behaviour.

Overview:
• The AMA is urging the Government to use the May Budget to invest strongly in the future of the Australian health system to meet growing and changing demand from an ageing population and a surge in chronic and complex conditions, which is afflicting more and more Australians.

• Closing a public hospital is still an option, with an increase to the GST off the table, South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill says. Mr Weatherill has floated his support for the increase of the GST to 15 per cent as one measure to cover a funding gap in health and education.

• Researchers from the University of Sydney and the Garvan Institute of Medical Research may have good news for those who struggle to stick to their diet: taking a break from dieting won’t necessarily ruin your weight loss efforts, and it could actually improve them.

Overview:
• High levels of the rare toxin Pseudo-nitzschia delicatissima, which is caused by algae was found in water samples taken at Eagle Point, Paynesville and Metung. People have been warned not to eat or take mussels and other shellfish from Victoria’s Gippsland lakes region as health authorities test for the toxin.

• More than 3,100 pregnant Colombian women are infected with the mosquito-borne Zikavirus, according to President Juan Manuel Santos, as the disease continues its rapid spread across the Americas.

• About 150 workers from Minda have gathered at North Brighton to hold a protest rally over pay rates and conditions in South Australia.

Overview:
• Australian researchers hope a new database called “ProCan” will eventually lead to real changes in the way doctors diagnose and treat cancer. This project is led by the Children’s Medical Research Institute, could help children in the future

• Introducing the word ‘imitation’ to the labels of highly processed food products could be the answer to solving the obesity epidemic, according to an American economist from the University of Otago.

• A national voluntary recall has been issued for prepackaged lettuce from the Victorian-based Tripod Farmers company, after a higher-than-usual number of salmonella cases were reported in the state.

Overview:
•  Death cap mushroom season has again arrived early in the ACT, with authorities warning the deadly fungus has been found in several locations following recent wet weather. ACT Chief Health Officer Paul Kelly said death caps typically began to grow in Canberra from late March onwards, but for the past two years they had been found in February.

• All Queensland hospitals and aged care homes will be forced to regularly test for the potentially deadly legionella bacteria and publicly report results under proposed state laws.

• New South Wales health authorities say they are delighted the state has recorded its highest ever number of organ donations, but the issue still needs to be discussed more in families.

Overview:
• The Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) has defended spending almost $500,000 on developing and trialling a new uniform. QAS executive manager for fleet and equipment Ian Tarr said Melbourne-based innovation consultancy Symplicit were contracted to design the uniform and run the trial.

• The deep folds that give the adult human brain its wrinkled walnut appearance were nature’s solution to fitting a large, powerful processor into a small skull. While scientists have long understood why there are folds in the brain’s outer layer, called the cerebral cortex or grey matter, the how has remained a mystery.

• When Rockhampton’s only gluten-free bakery closed its doors last year, Keely Roberts and Simone Lawrie saw it as an opportunity, rather than a sign that central Queensland did not have a market for the product.

Overview:
• The handover of the new Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) to the South Australian Government is expected to be delayed by up to two months, independent advisers have told the Government. Health Minister Jack Snelling said any delay would not affect the site’s scheduled opening date in November.

• The father of Phelicity Sneesby, 13 years old with congenital heart defect from New South Wales says he is overwhelmed at the outpouring of support to help fly his daughter back to Australia.

• Abul Bajandar a Bangladeshi father dubbed “Tree Man” for massive bark-like warts on his hands and feet will finally have surgery to remove the growths that first began appearing 10 years ago, according to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).

Overview:
• When to slip, slop, slap is about to become clearer as five national health bodies aim to relieve confusion about whether Australians should spend less or more time in the sun via new guidelines. Experts say many Australians are confused when it comes to balancing skin protection with the need for vitamin D.

• At least 16 more people have died of starvation in the besieged Syrian town of Madaya since the delivery of aid earlier this month, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

•  Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley has demanded private health insurance companies provide more information to justify premium increases. Ms Ley said consumers had concerns about the affordability of their premiums, with fees rising by about 6 per cent per year over the past five years.