The Health News Australia August 26 2017

Overview

• The Victorian Health Department and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency are investigating claims that three general practitioners are assisting families opposed to vaccinations. Mister Hunt said if the doctors are found guilty, he hoped the regulator would impose the toughest penalties possible and added there would be “no sympathy at all” from the Government.
• New analysis reveals that some tomato-based products contain 90 times more salt than others. The WHO recommends people consume no more than 5 mg of salt per day but Australians are currently consuming nearly double that amount.
• New laws were passed giving coal workers affected with pneumoconiosis or black lung disease compensation and rehabilitation. The reidentification of the disease in 2015 sparked the formation of a parliamentary committee to investigate how regulatory systems failed and how to protect workers in the future.

News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the 25th of August 2017. Read by Tabetha Moreto. Health News

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-24/melbourne-doctors-investigated-over-anti-vaccination-allegations/8837554

Melbourne doctors are being investigated for allegedly helping parents avoid vaccinating children. Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt says he is astonished by allegations some doctors have “stooped to the level of the anti-vaccination movement” by helping families get around mandatory vaccinations for their children. The Victorian Health Department and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency are investigating claims that three general practitioners are assisting families opposed to vaccinations. Mister Hunt said if the doctors are found guilty, he hoped the regulator would impose the toughest penalties possible and added there would be “no sympathy at all” from the Government. The Minister said he hoped these were isolated cases but warned “if there are other doctors out there preaching anti-vaccination positions, then we will find them”.

In Australia, doctors can apply for an exemption for their patients on approved medical grounds. Federal Government records from two thousand fifteen showed about  thirty thousand kids – or about one point thirty four percent of Australian children – were granted “conscientious objection” status.Debate around immunisation focuses on ‘vaccine refusers’ but experts say we cannot ignore the other reasons children miss out on vaccines.But conscientious objection is no longer accepted by the Government as a valid reason for forgoing vaccination. Earlier this year, the Federal Government subjected some welfare payments to a ‘no jab, no pay’ policy as part of a push to ensure ninety five per cent of children were vaccinated. School-aged children are offered vaccination against chicken pox and human papillomavirus, or HPV. Earlier this month, a campaign was launched to give parents evidence-based information about immunisations to counter anti-vaccination critics.

https://thewest.com.au/news/health/new-health-warning-as-cooking-sauces-hide-high-levels-of-salt-ng-b88577706z

Australians are being urged to check the salt content of their family’s favourite cooking sauces, with new analysis revealing some tomato-based products contain ninety times more salt than others. A study by The George Institute for Global Health in collaboration with VicHealth and the Heart Foundation has uncovered the “hidden” salt content of more than two thousand cooking sauce products, sold in the four major supermarkets. It found salt intake was highest in powdered sauces that are used commonly for casseroles, curries and pasta bakes.

Some contained almost half a family’s recommended daily salt intake in one serve alone, according to the study.

McCormick Garlic and Rosemary Lamb Shanks was the saltiest with twenty two point thirty eight grams of salt per one hundred grams. Among the stable shelf sauces, Asian black bean sauces topped the list with two point thirty seven grams of salt per one hundred grams.The World Health Organisation recommends people consume no more than five milligrams of salt per day. Data from the Australian Health Survey shows Australians are currently consuming nearly double that. Heart Foundation Victoria CEO Kellie-Ann Jolly says the link between a high salt diet and cardiovascular disease is clear cut and the results of this research are concerning.
She adds that excessive salt intake is directly linked to blood pressure, so if you are eating high amounts of salt through your diet you are more likely to have high blood pressure which increases your risk of particularly stroke, heart and kidney disease.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-24/jo-ann-miller-breaks-down-as-black-lung-laws-pass/8837344

After losing her grandfather to black lung, Labor backbencher Jo-Ann Miller has broken down in Queensland Parliament revealing her father has also been diagnosed with the disease, as new laws are passed giving those affected better access to workers’ compensation. The emotional speech came during debate in Parliament over amended legislation relating to workers’ compensation and rehabilitation for those with coal workers’ pneumoconiosis or CWP, also known as black lung disease.

Black lung disease is a potentially fatal disease caused by long exposure to coal dust, more commonly known as “black lung” because those with the disease have lungs that look black instead of a healthy pink. Black lung most often stems from working in the coal industry or in the manufacturing of graphite or man-made carbon products and has no known cure.The risk of getting black lung depends on how much time has been spent around coal dust. There are two types of black lung: simple and complicated. There is currently no cure for black lung disease.

The reidentification of the disease in two thousand fifteen sparked the formation of a parliamentary committee to investigate how regulatory systems failed and how to protect workers in the future. The legislation, which passed with bipartisan support, will see those who have retired or left the coal mining industry before January one, two thousand seventeen offered funding for medical examinations to encourage more testing for the disease.It will also ensure those diagnosed with CWP can apply to reopen a workers’ compensation claim to access further benefits and offer extra rehabilitation support to assist workers back into suitable alternative employment.