HEALTHMonitor produced by Media Monitors ACT Pty Ltd distributed by Health Communication Network Limited Issue No. 1007 - Thursday, July 22, 1999 PRINT MEDIA SUMMARY THE AUSTRALIAN Esther Adley p3 Women miss out on pill substitute. Family Planning NSW director Edith Weisberg says that a new contraceptive developed by an United States pharmaceutical firm may not reach Australia within the next 10 years, despite expectations that it will reach US markets within the next two years. (HM220700) John Kerin, p4 Medicare assault mars GP fund deal. Australian Belinda Hickman Division of GP national president John Aloizos and Andrew said yesterday that the Federal Government�s McGarry revised $7.7 million funding offer for general practice would contain an extra $2.4 million to cover costs incurred by attempts by States to shift hospital charges onto GPs and rural health. (HM220701) Nic Hopkins p27 $3.5m booster for Net health. Health Communications Network, which provides online information and product sources, has competed its $3.5 million private capital raising via the issue of a 10 per cent equity stake, preparatory to its public float later this year. (HM220702) Lou Caruana p28 Metabolic feasts on fat of the land. Biomedical group Metabolic has announced plans to invest $150 million in clinical testing of its anti-obesity drug on humans in order to retain control of the treatment�s distribution and get the drug approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. (HM220703) THE FINANCIAL REVIEW Chelsey Martin p7 AMA unites in call for user-pays hospital care. Ahead of tomorrow�s meeting of State and Territory leaders in Sydney the AMA federal president David Brand and the �reform group� challenging his leadership both called for access to public hospitals to be means tested with a limited user pays system to be introduced. (HM220704) Kathryn House p40 Australian Unity steps into $40m property syndicate. Financial and health services group Australian Unity will jointly market a $40 million syndicate in conjunction with Waltus Investments with its own clients expected to take up to $8 million in stock in the nationwide property development. (HM220705) THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD Paola Totoro p2 Heroin �quick cure� drug denied subsidy. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee has rejected Prime Minister John Howard�s proposal that the heroin treatment drug Naltrexone be fast- tracked onto the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme on clinical grounds. (HM220706) THE AGE Ewin Hannan and pA1 Crisis talks on health funding. On the eve of a Darren Gray Premier�s conference on national health, scheduled for tomorrow, the Public Health Association of Australia has recommended that a 1 per cent increase on taxable income be implemented for the Medicare levy, delivering the Commonwealth an extra $2 billion a year thereby solving the high cost of public health care, according to past president Stephen Leeder. (HM220707) Darren Gray pA2 AMA calls for change in health funding. Australian Medical Association national president David Brand yesterday suggested repeated and shifting costs under present health funding arrangements between the Federal and State Governments had wasted millions of dollars, suggesting that a major change to the administration of health funding be made, forcing either the Federal Government or the States to take on exclusive responsibility. (HM220708) Sue Cant pA4 Tribunal told of deaths survey boycott. The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal was told yesterday that Royal Alfred doctors had refused to participate in a survey on patient deaths for fear the information would be made public. (HM220709) THE CANBERRA TIMES Catriona Jackson p3 Hospital training reinstated. Canberra Hospital announced yesterday that a graduate training program for nurses, axed by management two weeks ago, is to be reinstated following an offer from the hospital�s heads of medical and surgical services to finance the scheme out of medical budgets. (HM220710) Catriona Jackson p3 AMA leadership contenders square up. AMA federal president David Brand yesterday spearheaded his campaign to retain control of the doctor�s union with a speech at the National Press Club in which he attacked the �reform group� led by former AMA federal president Bruce Shepherd. (HM220711) Roderick p6 Judge overturns tribunal call on man�s finances. Campbell ACT Supreme Court Chief Justice Jeffrey Miles yesterday overturned an ACT Guardianship and Management Property Tribunal decision to appoint a Public Trustee to manage the $65,000 traffic accident settlement awarded to a paranoid schizophrenic man. (HM220712) Lee Glendinning p6 Tuggeranong teens work to help fellow youth. The Tuggeranong Community Arts Centre in conjunction with Healthpact plans to launch a program called �Iris Messengers� which aims to assist troubled and isolated youth and so prevent suicidal behaviour. (HM220713) THE WEST AUSTRALIAN John Flint p7 Hospital equipment danger. Former Swan District Hospital chief radiographer and ultrasonographer Tony Fagan yesterday told the WA Industrial Relations Commission that he was dismissed from his position after raising concerns about the failure of outmoded equipment to detect foetus abnormalities. (HM220714) Carina Tan-Van p10 Hospitals want inquiry. SA public hospitals have Baren supported State Premier John Olsen�s call for an urgent review of national health funding but along with welfare, consumer and Catholic health care groups have rejected his proposal for access to public hospitals to be means-tested. (HM220715) Carmelo Amalfi p13 Space project riles Toodyay. Residents of the rural town of Toodyay have protested plans by local farmer Arthur North to allow the European Space Agency to build a 35 metre dish radio antenna as part of its long-term space exploration program on his property saying the building is a health risk. (HM220716) Francesca Hodge p31 Alert at meningitis upsurge. WA Health Department Communicable Disease medical epidemiologist Gary Dowse yesterday warned of the threat posed by the meningococcal virus saying 42 cases had been detected this year nationwide as compared to 32 in 1998. (HM220717) THE COURIER MAIL Matthew Franklin p2 Beattie slams hospital meddling. Qld Premier and Michael Peter Beattie alleged yesterday that the State�s McKenna hospitals had been denied $13.5 million in Commonwealth funding last year following demands by federal bureaucrats that control of the money be transferred to them.(HM220718) Shelley Thomas p3 Heavy drinkers blind to danger. A University of Qld study has found that 25 per cent of the State�s population consumed hazardous levels of alcohol on a weekly basis with related health problems costing the Qld health system approximately $700 million annually. (HM220719) Sean Parnell p3 Research find an eye-opener. Researchers at the Qld University of Technology School of Optometry have developed a new device called a front sensor capable of measuring the optical aberrations of a patients eye with a computer system then reconstructing the image on a screen. (HM220720) Jeff Sommerfield p7 Deaf delegates� visas blocked. The Federal Immigration and Multicultural Department has refused visas for a group of African delegates attending the upcoming World Federation of the Deaf Congress in Brisbane on the advice of the Australian High Commission in Nigeria. (HM220721) ADELAIDE ADVERTISER Paul Starick, p4 Elective surgery reprieve. SA Human Services Leonie Mellor Department executive director Brendon Kearney said and David Eccles yesterday the Royal Adelaide Hospital�s emergency room�s winter-related case load increase appears to have subsided with no plans this weekend to cancel admissions. (HM220722) Leonie Mellor p4 Repat doors closed for first time. The Repatriation General Hospital in Adelaide is again admitting new patients after refusing extra admissions on Monday. Hospital management say the situation has been addressed via the rescheduling of non-urgent elective surgery. (HM220723) Miles Kemp p6 Emergency number not cleared for bug. SA Ambulance Service chief executive Ian Pickering yesterday expressed concerns that Telstra has not yet made the 000 emergency number fully Y2K compliant. Telstra has denied the allegation. (HM220724) Jill Pengelley p7 Baby Jackson is a $600,000 celebrity. The Adelaide Women�s and Children�s Hospital new $600,000 testing machine which screens young babies for life threatening diseases has already located MCAD deficiency in a six-month-old infant and allowed the metabolic disorder to be successfully treated. (HM220725) Stuart Innes p9 Special jails urged for drug addicts. SA Police Detective Superintendent Denis Edmonds yesterday told the Taxi Industry Conference in Adelaide that special jail facilities should be constructed for drug users that would focus on rehabilitation as well as punishment. (HM220726) Jill Pengelley p27 $14m hospital program. The newly created Adelaide Community Healthcare Alliance, consisting of the former Ashford and Western community hospitals, is to embark on a $14 million building program involving the construction of operating theatres, a new ward and consulting rooms at the Ashford site. (HM220727) THE HERALD SUN Michael Harvey p4 Punters lose in marriage. The Productivity Commission�s report into gambling, released earlier this week, has expressed alarm at the approximately 29,000 marriage breakdown in 1998 triggered by problem gambling saying the economic and emotional cost of separation and divorce totalled approximately $2.8 billion. (HM220728) Tanya Taylor p7 Oral surgeon tells of piercing peril. The Australian Dental Association Vic president Stephen Gibbons warned yesterday that tongue piercing can lead to fractured teeth, blocked airways and toxic shock. (HM220729) Karen Collier p11 Nurse suspended over dying dignity claim. The Nurses Board of Victoria has suspended the registration of a nurse accused of withdrawing treatment from a elderly patient in her care because she wanted to let the patient die with dignity. (HM220730) Kristin Owen p14 FoI bungle nurses quit jobs. Fifty-one Frankston Hospital nurses have resigned out of fear they may become the target of violence after their names were released under Victoria�s Freedom of Information guidelines to a murderer. (HM220731) THE DAILY TELEGRAPH Simon Benson p3 Boys like it hot and steamy. Research published in the latest edition of New Scientist has revealed that seasonal variations are a large determinant in the sex of foetuses with more boys being conceived in summer or unseasonably high temperatures and the reverse being true of colder weather. (HM220732) Chris Herde p7 Lost skull a bone of contention. The Gold Coast Hospital yesterday denied allegations that it lost part of the skull of a woman who had undergone brain surgery. (HM220733) p15 Health service review will include doctors and nurses. NSW Health Minister Craig Knowles yesterday promised the six-month review of the State�s public health system would take account of the viewpoints of doctors and nurses, despite these group�s not being represented on the review panel. (HM220734) THE HOBART MERCURY Eve Lamb p7 Clinic is shot in the arm for pain sufferers A 24-hour pain relief clinic was opened yesterday at Hobart�s Vic Centre with founder Bill Pearson saying recurring neck and back injuries could often be treated successfully with natural therapies with the centre to conduct home visits. (HM220735) Eve Lamb p9 Hobart in vanguard of diabetes war. Menzies Centre genetic epidemiology unit director Michele Sale yesterday launched a new study into the genetic basis of juvenile diabetes to be funded with a $130,000 grant from the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. (HM220736) Sarah Maguire p11 Recyclable fleet with a $1m tag. The Tas Government has awarded a $1 million contract to State company Mander International to build 10 new fibre-glass ambulances to help replace the current ageing fleet with another 60 vehicles being planned over the next two years. (HM220737) MAJOR MEDIA RELEASES Australian NSW health care complaints commission/ACCC MOU. Competition and The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Consumer Commission and the New South Wales Health Care Complaints and the New South Commission have signed a Memorandum of Wales Health Care Understanding on cooperation between the two Complaints Commission agencies. (HM220738) Council on the Ageing Medicare must stay. The Council on the Ageing has expressed concern at the possibility that admission to public hospitals could be means- tested. (HM220739) International Life Effective regulations and rigorous testing of GM Sciences Institute foods keys to public safety. The International Life Sciences Institute symposium on gene-modified food has heard how effective regulation and the implementation of rigorous testing are the keys to public confidence in GM foods. (HM220740) Federal Transport and First Rural Transaction Centres Approved. Federal Regional Services Transport and Regional Services Minister John Minister John Anderson and Regional Services, Territories and Anderson and Regional Local Government Minister Ian Macdonald has Services, Territories announced that 22 rural communities have been and Local Government successful in securing funding for the Minister Ian Government�s Rural Transaction Centre Programme. Macdonald (HM220741) ELECTRONIC MEDIA SUMMARY 2CN 0700 21/7 Brand speaks his mind. Australian Medical Association president David Brand has issued a press release which shows most people are happy with care provided by general practitioners, despite the low morale among general practitioners with 25 per cent wanting to change professions. Brand claims rebates are not keeping up with inflation and Internet services with upcoming press conference lobbying the future of Medicare and changes in fees for public hospitals. (Dur:12:00) (HM220742) 6PR 1600 21/7 Court to take managed care system to Federal Government. WA Premier Richard Court will be taking a controversial proposal to fix the woes in Australia�s health system to a leader�s forum this Friday and it is understood he will be asking the Federal Government to consider introducing a so- called �managed-care� system, based on the US model. (Dur:04:25) (HM220743) 6NR 1400 21/7 Research shows breastmilk babies smarter. Health consultant Roger French discusses ADD, following results from a study of children born prematurely which found that children fed breastmilk had an advantage of 8.3 IQ points on average compared with those fed on bottle formula only. Children with high lead levels in their bones were more likely to engage in aggressive and delinquent behaviour and iron deficiencies have been found to lower intelligence. French also examines the link between what we eat and our physical health. (Dur:08:24) (HM220744) OTHER PRINT ARTICLES 22/7 Australian New gay hate attack p4 22/7 Sydney Morning AIDS assault p2 Herald 22/7 The Age Outrage over patients memo pA2 22/7 The Age Tales of the neglected pA14 22/7 The Age Why women need a workplace revolution pA15 22/7 Canberra Times Mateship ideal transcends gender p12 22/7 Canberra Times Time to improve health system p12 22/7 Canberra Times Much pro-abortion argument nonsense p12 22/7 Canberra Times Better training for nurses p12 22/7 West Australian Battle is for the future of doctors: AMA p10 chief 22/7 West Australian No excuse for staying here p15 22/7 Courier Mail AIDS worker stabbed with used syringe p1 22/7 Courier Mail Hold the phone p13 22/7 Courier Mail Do judges really know better? p15 22/7 Adelaide It�s your fault p1 Advertiser 22/7 Adelaide Healthy and wealthy, but not wise p16 Advertiser 22/7 Adelaide An oversight p17 Advertiser 22/7 Adelaide Coping in a drug culture p18 Advertiser 22/7 Adelaide Health formula for a crisis p19 Advertiser 22/7 Herald Sun Deaths claim furore p2 22/7 Herald Sun GPs back user-pays push p4 22/7 Herald Sun Smoke-free dining p17 22/7 Herald Sun Kicking goals for cancer p23 22/7 Herald Sun Drink that powers the AFL�s stars p80 22/7 Herald Sun Creatine usage rife in league rank p88 22/7 Daily Telegraph AMA head an outsider p2 22/7 Daily Telegraph High cost of advanced health care p12 22/7 Daily Telegraph Hospitals means test ruled out p15 22/7 Daily Telegraph Parents on alert for killer disease p19 22/7 Hobart Mercury User-pay health fees rejected p9 22/7 Hobart Mercury Health workers protest after year of p11 failed talks 22/7 Hobart Mercury New drug a small win in battle against p13 MS 22/7 Hobart Mercury Child care p18 21/7 Newcastle A healthy city image p8 Herald 21/7 Newcastle Hunter hospitals in operation to fix p13 Herald young doctor shortage 21/7 Newcastle $19.5mill to health p16 Herald 20/7 NT News Health row after Labor claims p4 20/7 Examiner Project targets costs p30 19/7 NT News Clinic may be just hot air: candidates p4 19/7 NT News Election promises p10 17/7 Border Mail Doctors welcome funding review p4 17/7 Border Mail Hospital dispute set to escalate p4 27/7 Bulletin The baby boom time bomb p40 HEALTHMonitor is produced by Natasha Cross and Sarah Hanley Transcripts, clippings, video and audio tapes, further information. Please call (02) 6239 5233 or simply complete this form and FAXBack to (02) 6239 7143 Ref No: Transcript Audio Tape VideoTape Press Clipping ............................... ................................ ................................ Delivery Fax delivery Courier To be collected THE DETAILS BELOW MUST BE COMPLETED BEFORE ORDERS CAN BE FILLED Name:.................................................... .................................................. Position:................................................ ..................................................... Organisation:............................................ ......................................................... ......................................... Phone:................................................... Address:................................................. ......................................................... ................................................. Fax:..................................................... ____________________________________________________________________________ HealthMonitor is produced by Media Monitors ACT Pty Ltd ACN 008 597 939 - Australia's leading media information service. HealthMonitor is distributed by Health Communication Network Limited ACN 068 458 515 - the Health Information Specialist. ____________________________________________________________________________ Transcripts, clippings, video and audio tapes are available for all items listed. To order, we will need these details from you: Your name and e-mail address as a subscriber to HealthMonitor The reference number of the relevant item (begins HM_______ ) The format required - transcript, clipping, video or audio tape Delivery mode - fax, courier or to be collected Delivery details - name, position, organisation, address, phone, fax number Place your order using one of the following methods: Complete the electronic order form at http://www.hcn.net.au/healthbase/healthmonitor/transcripts.htm Call MediaMonitors on (02) 6239 5233 Fax MediaMonitors on (02) 6239 5244 Email MediaMonitors on [EMAIL PROTECTED] For changes to the email list, or other queries regarding delivery of the daily HealthMonitor please contact Health Communication Network on 1800 643 850 ____________________________________________________________________________ IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER HealthMonitor is a summary of articles contained in other media outlets and is a reference tool only. Subscribers should refer to the original articles before making any financial decisions or forming any opinions. ____________________________________________________________________________ -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
