Overview

• The Heart of Australia cardiology clinic has received a one million dollar donation from a family who wished to remain anonymous. The Heart of Australia (Heart Bus) was founded by engineer turned cardiologist Rolph Gomes, who fitted out a 25 metre semi-trailer with the same specialised equipment found in a city cardiology practice. Each month the truck travels 8,000 kilometers as it visits 12 regional towns to provide endocrinology and some respiratory services.
• The Federal Government has confirmed that China has temporarily banned beef imports from 6 Australian meatworks. Trade Minister Steven Ciobo aid the ban related to Chinese concern about labelling non-compliance. There is no suggestion health or food safety issues are involved.
• The Commonwealth Bank has come under fire from disability advocates for its nationwide rollout of EFTPOS machines which they say are inaccessible to blind and vision-impaired people. Blind Citizens Australia is now calling on the bank to stop rolling out the machines, until the technology is able to be used by all people — with or without a disability.

Overview

• The prospect of chlorine-washed chicken flooding into the UK as the price of a post-Brexit trade deal with the US has garnered a great deal of attention in recent days. Chlorine-washed chickens are symbolic of much wider concerns around animal welfare and environmental standards that could become a crucial negotiating point in any post-Brexit trade deal between the US and the UK.
• Scientists have developed an experimental surgical glue inspired by the mucus secreted by slugs that could offer an alternative to sutures and staples for closing wounds. While some medical glues already exist, they often adhere weakly, are not particularly flexible and frequently cannot be used in very wet conditions.
• Antibiotic resistance is a growing threat. It can build up after bacteria have become repeatedly exposed to antibiotics. The bacteria change or adapt so they are no longer affected by the antibiotic. This renders antibiotics ineffective against infections they were previously able to treat.

Overview

• Scientists call for public health action as they highlight the dangers of the so-called overfat pandemic that is currently sweeping the United States. Obesity and excessive weight are public health concerns; over 70% of U.S. adults are either obese or overweight.
• A version of the Obamacare repeal plan the Senate could pass this week may leave sixteen million more Americans uninsured over a decade, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate requested by Senate Democrats.
• Health officials announced that a man was diagnosed with Zika virus while living in Texas, the first infection transmitted from a local mosquito in the state this year.  More than 5,000 Zika cases were reported last year – with 224 cases reported to be local Zika transmission in the U.S., the CDC reported.

Overview

• More than 86,000 NHS posts were vacant between January 2017 and March 2017, figures for England suggest. There are currently an estimated 1 million full time jobs across the NHS in England. Nurses and midwives accounted for the highest proportion of shortages, with 11,400 vacant posts in March 2017.
• According to Mental Health Foundation 6,000 suicides in the UK and Ireland occur each year – with one death occurring every 2 hours. While there are many support groups, and options in terms of mental health services, people who are going through such a difficult time, experiencing such horrendous thoughts, need support from more than just people who are paid to be there.
• Britain is to ban all new petrol and diesel cars and vans from two thousand and forty amid fears that rising levels of nitrogen oxide pose a major risk to public health. The government warned that the move, which will also take in hybrid vehicles, was needed because of the unnecessary and avoidable impact that poor air quality was having on people’s health.

Overview

• New Jersey is set to become the third state to raise its smoking age to 21, after Republican Governor Chris Christie signed a bill Friday that hikes the minimum age to buy tobacco products from 19. New Jersey’s new law applies to e-cigarettes, as well as conventional tobacco products, and triggers fines against anyone who sells, gives or offers such products to someone younger than twenty one. It goes into effect November 1.
• The Senate decisively rejected a Republican proposal to repeal-and-replace Obamacare, a sign of the chaos expected to envelop Capitol Hill as GOP leaders work to find a plan their conference can agree to.
• Research on 202 former football players found evidence of a brain disease linked to repeated head blows in nearly all of them, from athletes in the National Football League, college and even high school. It’s the largest update on chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a debilitating brain disease that can cause a range of symptoms including memory loss.