HEALTHMonitor produced by Media Monitors ACT Pty Ltd distributed by Health Communication Network Limited Issue No. 1008 - Friday, July 23, 1999 PRINT MEDIA SUMMARY THE AUSTRALIAN Mike Steketee p14 Don�t charge patients for funding flaws. Article attacks NSW Premier Bob Carr�s statement that he will consider the options of access to public hospitals being means tested and patient charges as unjust and ineffective. (HM230700) Duncan p39 Unity vouches for health of float. Article Macfarlane discusses Australia Unity�s recent announcement that it plans to list a $70 million private property trust consisting of four private hospitals and a medical clinic on the Australian Stock Exchange. (HM230701) THE FINANCIAL REVIEW Chelsey Martin p4 Howard�s health-care showdown. The meeting of State and Territory leaders in Sydney today is expected to endorse a national review of the public health system, with Vic Premier Jeff Kennett calling for Medicare to be abolished. (HM230702) THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD Paola Totaro p1 Darkness Visible: Carr sees the light on depression. NSW Premier Bob Carr is to support Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett�s proposal for a national institute on depression at today�s meeting of State and Territory leaders. (HM230703) Julie Robotham p2 Speed makers to be thwarted by drug manufacturer. Warner Lambert Consumer Healthcare says it will alter its sinus relief tablet Sudafed�s formulation following concerns it is being used in large-scale illicit amphetamine manufacture. (HM230704) Ellen Connolly p5 Nurse guilty of a �despicable� theft Nurse Alicia Cerna yesterday pleaded guilty to stealing credit card of multiple sclerosis sufferer Nikolaos Kintominas when she was acting as his carer and withdrawing $1,000 from his account. (HM230705) Paola Totaro p6 Heroin busters warn of �powerful� opponents. The manufacturers of the anti-heroin drug Naltrexone have warned they will appeal against the decision by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee to disqualify it for subsidy. (HM230706) p9 Moscow menace. A number of people have died and tens of thousands have consulted doctors in Russia after being bitten by ticks carrying the deadly encephalitis virus, with the outbreak being prompted by high summer temperatures. (HM230707) Deborah Smith p11 Body of evidence. Psychologist Susie Orbach, author of Fat Is A Feminist Issue, and who will deliver the keynote address at next week�s Body Culture Conference in Melbourne, discusses the prevalence of body image and weight concerns. (HM230708) Stephen Leeder p15 Dark Side to the future of Medicare. University of Sydney Faculty of Medicine dean Stephen Leeder discusses the arguments put forward by opponents of Medicare and suggests that a national summit on health issues be held. (HM230709) Arshad Mahmud p9 UNICEF faces mass suit over poison wells A and Peter massive class action has been launched against Capella UNICEF following the exposure of up to 70 million Bangladesh residents to severe arsenic poisoning after drinking water from wells dug by the UN agency. (HM230710) THE AGE Victoria Button pA3 Bid to nip depression in the bud. The International Congress on depressive Disorders now being held in Melbourne has heard that children in the US at risk of developing bio-polar depression are being given drugs in an attempt to forestall the disease. (HM230711) Mary-Anne Toy pA6 Health services upheaval grows. Cleaners and after ancillary staff at Vic public hospitals are to continue with industrial action following the collapse yesterday of talks with the State Government aimed at resolving a long-term pay dispute. (HM230712) Sue Cant pA6 Hospital errors not disclosed. Inner and Easter Health Care Network clinical services director Graeme Ryan yesterday told the Vic Civil and Administrative Tribunal that widespread secrecy surrounded malpractice by hospital doctors. (HM230713) THE CANBERRA TIMES Marie Coleman p9 Let�s get serious about health. Article discusses the debate on public health policy in Australia since 1969 including the establishment of Medibank and Medicare in light of today�s meeting of State and Territory leaders to discuss health funding. (HM230714) THE WEST AUSTRALIAN Mari Barton p7 Dead two may have been left 24 hours. WA Police have estimated that two adolescent girls may have been dead from a heroin overdose in a suburban house in Fremantle up to 24 hours before other residents called an ambulance. (HM230715) Torrance Mendez p7 Heroin deaths linked to company. Opiate Overdose Prevention Strategy worker Grant Mahey warned yesterday that heroin addicts were at greater risk of death from overdose when injecting alone or when fellow addicts were incapable of helping. (HM230716) Nick Miller p11 Footballers kick in to help young Aborigines. The AFL Fremantle Football Club has entered into a project coordinated by WA Police Sergeant Neil Gordon that aims to improve Aboriginal health through improved self-esteem. (HM230717) Francesca Hodge p31 Brain disease gene tests expanding: clinic head. Neuroscience services in Perth this week relocated to new premises at Graylands Hospital with the service expected to continue its pioneering work in Huntingdon�s disease and early-onset dementia. (HM230718) THE COURIER MAIL Jeff Sommerfeld p3 Visa poser over �deaf� delegates. The Department of Immigration has defended the decision by Australian consulates to recommend against visas being issued to some delegates planning to attend the World Federation of the Deaf conference in Brisbane. (HM230719) Jacinta Koch p3 Young gums �shot� from the lip. Australian Dental Association Qld president Derek Willis said yesterday that tongue piercing greatly increases the risk of gum problems, chipped teeth, breathing problems and toxic shock syndrome. (HM230720) Matthew Hart p5 Gay groups rally to support of stabbed AIDS worker. Qld�s gay community has rallied in support of Townsville AIDS worker Daryl Colber- Witford, who was stabbed in the neck with a used intravenous needle in a homophobic attack on Wednesday. (HM230721) Matthew Franklin p5 Premiers act on health funding. Qld Premier Peter Beattie said yesterday he would oppose proposal for means-tested access and patient charges to be introduced into the public health system at today�s health forum of State and Territory leaders. (HM230722) Terry Sweetman p11 Equitable remedy for Medicare funding is healthy. Article defends Medicare against attacks from the AMA and Liberal Premiers saying it is one of Australia�s greatest social achievements and enjoys widespread and fervent public support. (HM230723) p12 In sickness and in health. AMA Qld president Beres Wenck has called on parents to ensure their children�s full vaccination by 18 months and the University of Qld says it will extend its care of people suffering the residual affects of polio. (HM230724) ADELAIDE ADVERTISER Kate Uren p1 Dawn�s pokes addiction has cost her $300,00. Profile of 60-year-old charity volunteer worker and problem gambler Dawn Franks, who is now being counselled for her addiction to pokie machines, which she alleges has cost her more than $300,000 since 1994. (HM230725) Paul Starick p2 Painful wait for man with a weak heart. Profile of heart transplant recipient John Birchmore who has been told by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital that he will have to wait until January before his knee, injured in a house fall in May, can be operated on. (HM230726) Melissa King p5 New ticker boosts weak heart. Article discusses the new titanium inSync device which aims to forestall heart failure and which was implanted into its first Australian recipient 72-year-old Douglas Mann at Flinders Private Hospital yesterday. (HM230727) THE HERALD SUN p10 Welfare spending increases. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare figures released yesterday show that Federal Government health and welfare spending levels increased to $583 per person per year in 1997-98. (HM230728) Philip Cullen p11 Death crash puzzle. The Vic Metropolitan and Jen Kelly Ambulance Service has launched an inquiry into why Intergraph sent an ambulance from Rosebud and Mornington to a accident in Bittern when another ambulance was closer. (HM230729) Jill Singer p18 We need to do more to fight the Black Dog. A recent World Health Organisation report The Global Burden of Disease has revealed that depression is a growing problem in developed and developing nations and looms as a major cause of illness. (HM230730) Tanya Taylor p9 Warning on natural remedy. Australian Traditional Medicine Society president Sandi Rogers yesterday claimed the natural anti-depressant St John�s Wort could cause sensitivity to the sun and even death in patients who combined use of the herb with Prozac. (HM230731) Tanya Taylor p9 No bones about it. US psychiatry professor Frederick Goodwin has told a Melbourne conference that Omega-3 fatty acids in fish reduce depression. (HM230732) THE DAILY TELEGRAPH Kate Minogue p17 Medicare levy rise urged. Medical and welfare experts yesterday called for a 1 per cent increase in the Medicare levy to protect the public health system, however NSW AMA president Kerryn Phelps has opposed the move. (HM230733) Kim Sweetman p17 Shift to holding wards. A NSW Health Department proposal has suggested that patients be shifted from hospital emergency wards into holding wards to wait for beds in a bid to solve overcrowding problems. (HM230734) Simon Benson p23 Putting a cap on accidents. A team of Sydney scientists are developing a micro-chip which can read brain waves emitted during the crucial transition from alertness to fatigue, in a bid to reduce road accidents caused by driver fatigue. (HM230735) THE HOBART MERCURY Sean Stevenson p3 Homeless crisis. Centacare�s St Joseph Family Crisis Centre in Hobart, which cares for at risk children, is to be shut down on September 3 following fears for the safety of its staff and residents from violent and drug-abusive parents. (HM230736) Sarah Maguire p11 Patients plug in to better quality of life. Tas�s $430,000 North-West Renal Unit was officially opened yesterday with the service to treat 25 patients annually, following strong community support for the project which saw $70,000 raised. (HM230737) p22 Aussie attack in epilepsy war. Surgeons at Melbourne�s St Vincent hospital have successfully used revolutionary new �virtual� techniques to remove a tumour from a woman�s brain that was causing epilepsy. (HM230738) MAJOR MEDIA RELEASES Federal Shadow Health Macklin Outlines Health Policy Themes. Federal Minister Jenny Shadow Health Minister Jenny Macklin has outlined Macklin eight areas of health policy development in the lead-up to the ALP National Conference in July 2000. (HM230739) Catholic Health CHA Calls on Premiers to Reject User Changes. Australia Catholic Health Australia has called on the premiers and chief ministers to reject a user pays solution to public hospital funding concerns. (HM230740) Public Health Health Groups Call for 1% Levy Rise. The Public Association Health Association has called on the State Premiers to consider the proposal of a 1 per cent increase to the Medicare levy instead of proposals such as means-testing or opt in-opt out provisions. (HM230741) Health Bonus Means Testing Public Hospitals Inevitable. Private health insurance company HealthBonus believes moves to make high income earners pay for public hospital treatment is inevitable. (HM230742) NSW College of Nurses Concern About Shift of Health Care Costs. Nursing The NSW College of Nursing has called on Health and Aged Care Minister Michael Wooldridge to reassure Australians of his continued commitment to the publicly funded health care system. (HM230743) ELECTRONIC MEDIA SUMMARY 22/7 2CN 1600 Nurses call on Government to pacify. NSW College of Nursing executive director Judy Lumby discusses the recent call by State Governments to have the Federal Government consider introducing means-testing for public hospitals, with nurses calling on Federal Health Minister Michael Wooldridge to reassure Australians of his commitment to a publicly funded health care system. Lumby claims there is a need for political leadership on the issue of publicly-funded health care saying that there is a danger that the most disadvantaged will not seek medical assistance after the implementation of fees and charges. (Dur : 8.00) (HM230744) 22/7 2RN 1200 The new order. A panel of health experts, including Australian Medical Association NSW president Kerryn Phelps, Monash University health economics director Jeff Richardson and John Deeble, creator of the original Medibank system, discuss the proposal to means test public hospital services and raise the Medicare levy. Queries have been raised as to whether this will lead to an inequitable system that causes the public health system to collapse. (Dur: 48.30) (HM230745) 22/7 2RN 0900 The Bristol Scandal. British anaesthetist Steven Bolson discusses issues involved in the 1990 Bristol Scandal which included the death of at least 29 babies and children, with an investigation finding that Bolson�s medical colleagues were guilty of malpractice after performing a number of heart surgeries. (Dur: 14.30) (HM230746) OTHER PRINT ARTICLES 23/7 Australian States want Medibank sold p4 23/7 Australian Healthy opposition p4 23/7 Australian Brain tumour treatment a virtual reality p6 23/7 Sydney Morning Medicare critics slashed spending p4 Herald 23/7 The Age Kennett set on health overhaul pA1 23/7 The Age A sustainable health care system pA14 (Editorial) 23/7 The Age When the easy route is wrong (Letter to pA14 the Editor) 23/7 The Age Crazy contradictions on carcinogens pA14 (Letter to the Editor) 23/7 The Age The benefits of morphine (Letter to the pA14 Editor) 23/7 The Age Beware the dark forces closing in on pA15 Medicare 23/7 West Australian Howard begins health offensive p4 23/7 West Australian Court call to put health crisis first p16 23/7 Canberra Times Means testing a disaster: Carnell p1 23/7 Courier Mail Health system needs radical surgery p10 23/7 Adelaide PM�s summit call on �evil� pokies p4 Advertiser 23/7 Adelaide No subsidy for Naltrexone p7 Advertiser 23/7 Adelaide Conditions at hospital deplorable (Letter p16 Advertiser to the Editor) 23/7 Daily Telegraph Heartless act caught on camera p9 23/7 Daily Telegraph Addiction block drug rejected p15 23/7 Herald Sun Our surgeons gain head start on world p11 23/7 Herald Sun Strike threat in health war p12 23/7 Herald Sun Pay up, says Premier p12 23/7 Herald Sun Raising the pokies ante (Editorial) p18 23/7 Hobart Mercury Howard blasts states on hospital funding p13 20/7 Border Mail Funding rise for health service p7 14/7 Parramatta Letter lifts the lid on hospital crisis Advertiser ____________________________________________________________________________ HealthMonitor is produced by Media Monitors ACT Pty Ltd ACN 008 597 939 - Australia's leading media information service. 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