The Health News Australia September 22 2017
Overview
- Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has dubbed obesity Australia’s next big health challenge but is refusing to back urgent calls from leading health organisations for a 20% tax on sugary drinks.
- According to the Cosmetic Physicians College of Australasia (CPCA), Australians spend roughly $1 billion dollars a year on non-invasive cosmetic procedures. The industry is so lucrative that some Australian dentists are offering cosmetic injections. But as the industry grows, so does the number of people getting bacterial infections.
- The Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill that would allow terminally ill people to voluntarily end their lives will be introduced to the New South Wales Parliament after two years of consultations.
News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the 22nd of September 2017. Read by Tabetha Moreto. Health News
Malcolm Turnbull has dubbed obesity Australia’s next big health challenge but is refusing to back urgent calls from leading health organisations for a twenty percent tax on sugary drinks. A group of more than thirty organisations and institutes, including the Cancer Council and the Stroke Foundation, have banded together for the first time to call on the federal government to introduce the tax as part of a national strategy to reduce obesity. Soft drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks and cordials and all non-alcoholic beverages with added sugar would attract the tax. A ban on advertising unhealthy food on free-to-air television during prime time, an “active transport” strategy, and a national obesity taskforce are among other strategies the group is calling for in their Tipping the Scales report. Prime Minister Turnbull indicated he would not back a sugar tax. “I think we have enough taxes and there are enough imposts on us all when we go to the supermarket and we go shopping,” Mister Turnbull told the Nine Network. Opposition leader Bill Shorten indicated he supported restrictions on advertising unhealthy foods in prime time but would not back a sugar tax.
….
Jane Martin, executive manager of the Obesity Policy Coalition which is part of the group backing the Tipping the Scales report, said the measures to curb obesity were “urgent”.
More than a third of Australian adults are overweight and a shocking twenty seven point nine per cent are obese, while more than a quarter or twenty seven percent of Australian children are overweight or obese. Despite not backing the tax, Mister Turnbull acknowledged obesity was the “next big challenge” facing Australia.The Prime Minister said health strategies were in place, and more would be implemented to tackle obesity, but it would not be as easy as tackling smoking.He said the message on smoking was “straightforward” because there was no safe amount of smoking. Mister Turnbull said a Prime Minister’s walking challenge would be introduced next year to encourage Australians to exercise.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-17/my-face-became-infected-again-and-again/8946230
Last year, Leila (not her real name) decided to try a new cosmetic procedure known as the vampire facial. Her Sydney-based cosmetic surgeon promised the platelet rich plasma injections — made popular by Kim Kardashian — would rejuvenate her skin and make her look younger.
Her blood was drawn, then treated to separate the platelets, which were injected back into her face. But several weeks after the procedure, Leila woke up with sore pink spots on her left cheek.
She was given a course of antibiotics, and she underwent surgery to drain the infection from her face. In the past few months, Leila has undergone multiple fat transfer procedures, a facelift and laser treatments to reconstruct her face. Australians spend roughly one billion dollars a year on non-invasive cosmetic procedures, according to the Cosmetic Physicians College of Australasia. The industry is so lucrative that some Australian dentists are offering cosmetic injections. But as the industry grows, so does the number of people getting bacterial infections.
….
The Australian Medical Board has ruled that only a doctor can prescribe cosmetic injections, and they must consult with a patient beforehand.But these consultations can occur over Skype and the injections can be made by a nurse under the doctor’s supervision. Some cosmetic injectors will push the same needle through the skin multiple times, increasing the risk of infection by a factor of ten thousand. Professor Anand Deva, the head of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Macquarie University’s MQ Health in Sydney found that chronic infection following cosmetic injections could be occurring in almost one-fifth of patients in Australia.
A bill that would allow terminally ill people to voluntarily end their lives will be introduced to the New South Wales Parliament today after two years of consultations. The Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill was drafted by a multi-party parliamentary group and while Premier Gladys Berejiklian and the Opposition Leader Luke Foley have said they would vote no, proponents argue the public wants change. National’s Member of Parliament Trevor Khan is introducing the bill this morning.
….
The bill requires that a patient must be: At least twenty five years of age and a New South Wales resident; Suffering from a terminal illness which in reasonable medical judgement will result in the death of the patient within twelve months; Experiencing severe pain, suffering or physical incapacity to an extent deemed unacceptable to the patient.
Eligible patients must be assessed by: A primary medical practitioner, a medical specialist
and an independent qualified psychiatrist or psychologist. Patients would then be allowed to self-administer a lethal substance to end their lives, they can also be assisted by a medical practitioner or nominated person. The bill will be debated later this year and its fate will be decided by a conscience vote, not along party lines. The Opposition’s health spokesman, Walt Secord, is one of the parliamentarians that will be voting no.
….
0 Comments