The Health News – 1 December 2016
Key Takeaways
- Key Point: Overview: • The drug called PrEP will be available to eligible South Australians who do not have HIV and who are at high risk of acquiring the virus.
- Key Point: • RSL Care South Australia had concerns the RSL wanted to take control of its assets and sell them off to prop up its finances.
- Key Point: The group operates the war veterans’ homes in Myrtle Bank and Angle Park, as well as retirement villages at Myrtle Bank, Marion and Glengowrie.
- Key Point: • Patients at the Princess Alexandra Hospital will start undergoing treatment within days now that the new computer program, Calypso, has gone online.
- Key Point: Radiation oncologist Tanya Holt explained that unlike conventional radiation beam therapies, the Calypso beacon tracked tumours in real time and only allowed radiation to go thr…
Overview:
• The drug called PrEP will be available to eligible South Australians who do not have HIV and who are at high risk of acquiring the virus.
• RSL Care South Australia had concerns the RSL wanted to take control of its assets and sell them off to prop up its finances.
The group operates the war veterans’ homes in Myrtle Bank and Angle Park, as well as retirement villages at Myrtle Bank, Marion and Glengowrie.
• Patients at the Princess Alexandra Hospital will start undergoing treatment within days now that the new computer program, Calypso, has gone online. Radiation oncologist Tanya Holt explained that unlike conventional radiation beam therapies, the Calypso beacon tracked tumours in real time and only allowed radiation to go through when the prostate was in range.
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News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the 30th of November 2016. Read by Rebecca Foster. Health News
A drug which can reduce the risk of HIV infection will be trialled in South Australia, the State Government has announced.
The drug called PrEP — short for pre-exposure prophylaxis — will be available to eligible South Australians who do not have HIV and who are at high risk of acquiring the virus.
The Government said it would begin talks with other states who are leading PrEP access trials and said modelling indicated about 500 South Australians may be eligible to be part of the trial.
Participants would be prescribed a daily oral pill.
Over the past five years, there has been an average of 58 HIV infections notified in South Australia each year.
Premier Jay Weatherill said it was an important new trial for HIV prevention medication.
Last week Greens MP Tammy Franks said the pill had been shown to reduce infection rates overseas and South Australia was lagging behind by not conducting its own trials.
Trials are already being conducted in New South Wales, Victoria, ACT and Queensland, she said.
An application to list the drug on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) was not approved in August.
South Australia’s RSL has failed in its bid to take control of the board of independent care provider, RSL Care, which operates five Adelaide nursing homes and retirement villages.
RSL Care South Australia had concerns the RSL wanted to take control of its assets and sell them off to prop up its finances.
The group operates the war veterans’ homes in Myrtle Bank and Angle Park, as well as retirement villages at Myrtle Bank, Marion and Glengowrie.
At a [recent] meeting…, the RSL did not receive enough board positions to take control.
RSL Care chairwoman Loretta Byers said she was confident assets were secure for the near future.
Queensland prostate cancer sufferers will try a new GPS system to track the position of their tumour during radiation treatment, in a breakthrough designed to avoid organ or tissue damage.
Patients at the Princess Alexandra Hospital will start undergoing treatment within days now that the new computer program, Calypso, has gone online.
Radiation oncologist Tanya Holt explained that unlike conventional radiation beam therapies, the Calypso beacon tracked tumours in real time and only allowed radiation to go through when the prostate was in range.
In current practice, the tumour is positioned before treatment, but it can move more than a centimetre due to coughing or digestion.
That means a radiation beam can hit healthy surrounding tissue instead of [the] tumour, causing serious side-effects such as bowel or rectal problems or urinary incontinence.
Dr Holt said the Calypso could detect a millimetre of movement in any direction.
Treatment time is also reduced because the machine also does the X-rays and CT scans.
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