The Health News – 29 June 2016
Overview:
• A political party in favour of “natural” medicine has rebranded itself the Health Australia Party, angering the Australian Medical Association for its stance on vaccines and fluoride. A central policy is to have natural medicine put on an equal footing with “pharmaceutical medicine”. WA president of the Australian Medical Association Andrew Miller said he believed the Health Australia Party was misnamed.
• On the ABC’s Lateline program Rural Health Minister Senator Fiona Nash promised another $11 million for the RFDS if the Federal Government is re-elected this Saturday. Labor has since matched that pledge. “Providing $11 million over the next two years for flying doctor dental outreach will allow the expansion of our existing dental services.” RFDS Chief Executive Martin Laverty said.
• German engineers have created a camera no bigger than a grain of salt that could change the future of health imaging — and clandestine surveillance using 3D printing. Such technology could be used as minimally-intrusive endoscopes for exploring inside the human body, the engineers reported in the journal Nature Photonics.
News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the 29th of June 2016. Read by Rebecca Foster. Health News
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-28/health-australia-party-raises-ire-of-ama/7550684
A political party in favour of “natural” medicine has rebranded itself the Health Australia Party, angering the Australian Medical Association for its stance on vaccines and fluoride.
National party spokesman Jason Woodforth said the party had to change its name from the Natural Medicine Party because it had taken on a broader range of policies.
A central policy is to have natural medicine put on an equal footing with “pharmaceutical medicine”.
The party also supports animal rights, food co-operatives, the Tobin tax system, which supports the taxing of foreign currency transactions, more academic freedom in universities, a Swiss-style national service system, and greater restrictions on herbicides and pesticides.
In the area of health, it wants “independent research into all aspects of natural and pharmaceutical medicine” and for potentially serious diseases to be managed “using a thoroughly researched program of immunisation that is both safe and effective”.
It suggests “a different paradigm” including natural medicine should be used to manage chronic diseases, and it opposes fluoride in public water supplies.
Mr Woodforth rejected the suggestion HAP is anti-vaccine.
He said the reason the party was seen as anti-vaccine was because it did not support the “no jab, no pay” or “no jab, no play” policies.
WA president of the Australian Medical Association Andrew Miller said he believed the Health Australia Party was misnamed.
Doctor Miller was critical of HAP’s push for natural medicine to be placed on an equal footing with pharmaceutical medicine.
The Royal Flying Doctor Service says funding pledges from both the major parties will allow it to at least double its dental work in regional Australia.
On the ABC’s Lateline program … Rural Health Minister Senator Fiona Nash promised another $11 million for the RFDS if the Federal Government is re-elected this Saturday.
Labor has since matched that pledge.
It came after the RFDS called for action from both sides of politics to address what it described as a “health crisis” in the bush.
“Providing $11 million over the next two years for flying doctor dental outreach will allow the expansion of our existing dental services,” RFDS Chief Executive Martin Laverty said.
The flying doctor’s dental staff saw 15,000 people in remote and rural Australia last year.
Mr Laverty said the promised funding could potentially increase those numbers to more than 40,000.
Across all of its services, …the RFDS sees close to 300,000 people a year …
The Coalition has also committed to continue funding the flying doctor’s emergency and primary health care services until 2019-2020.
The current agreement was due to expire next year.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-28/3d-printed-injectable-micro-camera/7548966
German engineers have created a camera no bigger than a grain of salt that could change the future of health imaging — and clandestine surveillance.
Using 3D printing, researchers from the University of Stuttgart built a three-lens camera, and fit it onto the end of an optical fibre the width of two hairs.
Such technology could be used as minimally-intrusive endoscopes for exploring inside the human body, the engineers reported in the journal Nature Photonics.
It could also be deployed in virtually invisible security monitors, or mini-robots with “autonomous vision”.
3D printing — also known as additive manufacturing — makes three-dimensional objects by depositing layer after layer of materials such as plastic, metal or ceramic.
Due to manufacturing limitations, lenses cannot currently be made small enough for key uses in the medical field, said the team, which believe its 3D printing method may represent “a paradigm shift”.
It took only a few hours to design, manufacture and test the tiny eye, which yielded “high optical performances and tremendous compactness”, the researchers reported.
The compound lens can also be printed onto image sensor[s] other than optical fibres, such as those used in digital cameras.
