The Health News – 18 August 2016

Overview:
• Jake Martin-Herde, 28, has admitted to two counts of offering and providing cosmetic tanning for a fee to the public. The practice was outlawed in SA last year and is illegal throughout Australia. EPA chief executive Tony Circelli said the case highlighted the need to stamp out the use of tanning beds for a profit.

• Representatives from the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU) and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) were at the the Royal Hobart Hospital handing out registration forms to concerned workers to remove asbestos from the RHH redevelopment site to improve productivity., to be sent to the Asbestos Compensation Commissioner.

• The number of whooping cough cases in Victoria were 4,615 cases in 2014, compared to 1,808 cases so far this year, and the number of cases affecting children under five has more than halved. The Government credits the drop to reinstating a vaccination program that was axed by the former coalition government.

News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the  18th of August 2016. Read by Rebecca Foster. Health News

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-17/solarium-sharelarium-cosmetic-tanning-owner-guilty-adelaide/7752042

A former Adelaide man has become the first person in Australia to be found guilty of providing cosmetic tanning for a fee, admitting to a court that he ran a solarium from his garage.

Jake Martin-Herde, 28, has admitted to two counts of offering and providing cosmetic tanning for a fee to the public.

He used social media to promote his northern suburbs business at Salisbury Downs, called the Sharelarium, which offered the use of three tanning beds.

The practice was outlawed in SA last year and is illegal throughout Australia.

Martin-Herde’s lawyer Gilbert Aitken told the Adelaide Magistrates Court that his client was given bad business advice that he could run tanning beds if he offered members of the public a share in the venture.

Prosecutor Kathleen Moloney said when the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) raided the house in March last year it found tanning beds, advertising material and business documents.

She said a female member of the public was present and told them she paid a $10 upfront fee, plus $20 per session and had become aware of the service via Facebook.

EPA chief executive Tony Circelli said the case highlighted the need to stamp out the use of tanning beds for a profit.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-17/state-government-urged-to-remove-hospital-asbestos/7751440

Tasmanian construction unions are urging the State Government to remove asbestos from the Royal Hobart Hospital (RHH) redevelopment site to improve productivity.

Representatives from the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU) and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) were at the hospital … handing out registration forms to concerned workers, to be sent to the Asbestos Compensation Commissioner.

Kevin Harkins from the CFMEU said auditing and removing the harmful fibre from the site would speed up the development.

State Health Minister Michael Ferguson told …ABC Hobart the Government was dealing with the issue at the hospital conservatively and carefully.

The situation comes after three asbestos scares throughout the redevelopment.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-17/big-drop-in-whooping-cough-rates-in-victoria/7751014

The number of whooping cough cases in Victoria has dropped by 40 per cent in the past year, the State Government says.

There were 4,615 cases in 2014, compared to 1,808 cases so far this year, and the number of cases affecting children under five has more than halved.

The Government credits the drop to reinstating a vaccination program that was axed by the former coalition government.

Premier Daniel Andrews said cutting whooping cough vaccinations to expectant parents was dangerous and reckless.

Ninety-three per cent of Victorian children under five are vaccinated, but the Government is aiming to hit 95 per cent.

Mr Andrews said parents who decided not to vaccinate their children were selfish.

Health Minister Jill Hennessy has also announced funding for family violence training for 14 health services across the state.

There will be $1.2 million spent on training hospital staff to identify the signs of family violence.

Three of the health services are in regional Victoria, in the Grampians, Loddon Mallee and Hume regions.