Health News – 18 Dec 2014

Overview

• AMA President, A/Prof Brian Owler, today congratulated all Indigenous medical graduates around the country, with special mention to Murray Haar and Gemma Johnston, both recipients of the AMA Indigenous Peoples’ Medical Scholarship.

• A male nurse has been charged over an alleged double murder at a Newcastle nursing home more than a year ago.

• Cambodian health authorities say more than 80 people – including children and the elderly – who tested positive for HIV/AIDS in a single remote village may have been infected by contaminated needles.

News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the 18th December 2014. Read by Rebecca Foster. Health News

https://ama.com.au/media/ama-scholarship-winners-among-latest-group-indigenous-medical-graduates

AMA President, A/Prof Brian Owler, … congratulated all Indigenous medical graduates around the country, with special mention to Murray Haar and Gemma Johnston, both recipients of the AMA Indigenous Peoples’ Medical Scholarship.

A/Prof Owler said the AMA is very proud of Murray and Gemma’s achievements, which will inspire more Indigenous students to pursue a career in medicine.

“The AMA hopes that Murray and Gemma’s success will lead to more Indigenous medical students applying for the 2015 AMA Scholarship,” A/Prof Owler said.

“Murray and Gemma are among 20 Indigenous men and women to become doctors since the scholarship began in 1994, many of whom may not otherwise have had the financial resources to study medicine.

“These wonderful doctors are now the pride of the medical profession and their communities, and role models for Indigenous Australians who want a career as a doctor or other health professional.

“An important part of closing the Indigenous health and life expectancy gap is to train a highly skilled medical workforce that includes more Indigenous doctors and health professionals.

“The AMA is proud to help increase the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the medical workforce.”
Murray Haar graduated from the University of New South Wales this week, and Gemma Johnston graduated from the University of Western Australia (UWA) at the end of November.

Both Murray and Gemma thanked the AMA for helping them through a long and challenging, but very rewarding journey.
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Murray now heads off to Albury Base Hospital to start his internship and residency, planning to later specialise in a mixture of anaesthetics and psychiatry to enable him to work in pain medicine.

Gemma is looking forward to undertaking her internship at Perth’s Fiona Stanley Hospital, and has many options to consider for the future.
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Scholarship recipients receive $10,000 each year for the duration of their course.

Applications for the scholarship must be received by 30 January 2015.
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For further information on how to apply for the 2015 AMA Indigenous Peoples’ Medical Scholarship, visitwww.ama.com.au/indigenous-peoples-medical-scholarship-2015

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-17/man-arrested-over-alleged-nursing-home-double-murder-newcastle/5972790

A male nurse has been charged over an alleged double murder at a Newcastle nursing home more than a year ago.
The 27-year-old man was arrested at his home in the Lake Macquarie suburb of Redhead this [yesterday] morning, before being taken into custody for questioning.
He has been charged over the deaths of Gwen Fowler, 83, and Ryan Kelly, 80, and the alleged attempted murder of another woman living at the home.

Ms Fowler and Mr Kelly died from insulin poisoning at the SummitCare nursing home in Wallsend in October last year.

The other resident, aged 91, fell ill with similar symptoms but has since recovered, police said.
… the nurse was sacked several months ago after he became a person of interest.
He has been charged with two counts of murder and one of attempted murder.
The company [stated]… it had cooperated fully with the police investigation and was thankful for their hard work.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-17/cambodia-village-reports-mass-hiv-aids-infection/5971902

Cambodian health authorities say more than 80 people – including children and the elderly – who tested positive for HIV/AIDS in a single remote village may have been infected by contaminated needles.

Hundreds of panicked residents of the village in Battambang province in the country’s west have flocked to a health centre for testing since news of the mass infection emerged last week, with a total of 82 having been confirmed as being infected.

“Of 556 people tested, 72 of them came back positive for HIV/AIDS,” secretary general of the National AIDS Authority Teng Kunthy said, adding that 14 of the people infected were children.
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A further 10 people were found to be infected with the virus on Tuesday when more villagers arrived at the health centre, Hei Sik, a local HIV/AIDS program director said.
“According to villagers, they suspected the infection may have been caused by injections from private local medics,” he said.
“This is a surprisingly high rate, the highest that I have ever seen.
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Cambodia has been widely hailed for its efforts in tackling HIV/AIDS.
The National AIDS Authority said the rate of HIV infection among people aged 15 to 49 declined from 0.6 per cent in 2013 to 0.4 per cent in 2014.
Cambodia estimates more than 73,000 people currently live with the disease.

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