31/11/19 - 8/12/19
Welcome one and all to December, we are on the home stretch! Hurtling at top speed towards the end of the year, we have still managed to cram in some groundbreaking news and events this week!
In news this week…
After pleas from the medical community detailed in last week’s Weekly Wrap Up, Jacqui Lambie did not support sustaining Medevac, instead voting to repeal the medevac laws which gave doctors some power to decide the fate of offshore refugees requiring medical treatment. Lambie reported that the reasons behind her decision were matters of national security and could not be discussed.
The next day, The High Court of Australia heard further submissions over the issue of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ entitlement to exemption from the government’s mandatory deportation powers. This is part of a discourse about the Constitutional definition of the term ‘alien’ that was first heard in the High Court in May 2019, and will decide if Indigenous people born overseas can be deported to immigration detention (again).
The Human Rights Law Centre downgraded Australia’s status as an “open democracy” to “narrow”. This was reportedly due to increasingly restrictive policies on free speech and peaceful protest, and has been used to bolster the campaign for an Australian Charter of Human Rights. The campaign argues that a Charter would “protect in law all of the fundamental human rights set out in the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, which could fundamentally change the way that the healthcare world in Australia operates (among other changes)
A paper by Faasse and Colagiuri in the Australian Journal of General Practice was referred to in an ABC article which proclaimed that Australian GPs commonly prescribe placebos as a matter of practice. Two of our human books, Dr. Michael Tam and Dr. Karen Price, came swiftly to the fore to conduct a second survey which addressed some of the flaws in the initial study (namely, the small sample size, the ambiguity of the research question, and the incongruity of its results with a much larger, much more robust research project). Dr. Tam and Dr. Price found a much lower 12-month prevalence of inactive placebo in clinical care by GPs than was indicated in Faasse and Colagiuri’s study.
The bushfires have progressed, with Sydney smoke now three times worse than any moment in the past five years. Immediate health impacts aside, there is very little research into the medium- or long-term exposure to sporadic bushfire events so it is difficult to estimate the impact these fires will have in the long term. Some have experimented with face masks, but the cloth and paper masks that are available in most pharmacies have not been found to be effective for bushfire smoke. Research still has yet to confirm if general household air conditioners are any help, but air purifiers with a specific Hepa filter may be useful in a specific radius.
An Australian GP, Professor Paul Glasziou, has been recognised as one of the world’s most cited researchers in 2019. I highly recommend taking a look at his work, as it spans a broad range of subjects, and his commentary on the involvements of GPs in research are thoughtful and diplomatic
An anti-vaxxer was charged as the Samoan measles outbreak prompted the Samoan government to declare a state of emergency and impose a two-day curfew. The outbreak has killed 65 within the span of a few weeks, but swift action by the government has seen vaccination rates triple in that time.
The NSW Rural GP 19 Conference was in full swing in Manly over the weekend - if you didn’t get a chance to get out there, you can live vicariously through the conference program here.
Coming up….
Have Your Say on the National Obesity Strategy - submissions close on 15th December, so if you want to contribute now is the best time!
Over the course of December, we’re planning a big ol’ calendar of health events and awareness opinion pieces that our human books can take part in or contribute to. If you’d like your event to be considered by one of our accessible experts, you can always email us at gplivinglibrary@gmail.com