Australian Medical Association

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, addresses the AMA Parliamentary Dinner, Great Hall, Parliament House, Wednesday, 10 March 2010

AMA President Dr Andrew Pesce discusses the Government's health reform plans at a Press Conference in Canberra.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that the public hospitals policy unveiled by the Prime Minister is major reform that must be taken seriously and given due consideration by the States and the health sector because we need a system that will give better access to quality health services for the Australian population into the future.

Dr Pesce said the policy is a credible response to the problems and deficiencies in the public hospital system and is evidence that there has been considerable consultation with patients and with doctors.

“The AMA supports the Prime Minister’s preparedness to take responsibility for health through a more dominant role for the Commonwealth in funding our public hospitals,” Dr Pesce said.

“Upon first examination, the new National Health and Hospitals Network is responding to the needs of patients.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, is in Canberra today and will be available for comment on the Government’s health reform plans outside the National Press Club following the Prime Minister’s address.

Dr Pesce will be in Canberra for the rest of the day and will be available for further media interviews upon request.

Dr Pesce Doorstop:

Time:        After Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s National Press Club Address
Date:       Wednesday 3 March 2009
Venue:     Outside the National Press Club

Dr Pesce discusses the Government's health funding reform plan with Fran Kelly on Radio National Breakfast.

MJA Media Release - ENDEMIC TRACHOMA STILL A MAJOR PROBLEM IN INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES

Blinding endemic trachoma remains a major public health problem in many Indigenous communities, despite the knowledge that has been gathered about its control since the 1930s, according to the authors of a study published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

Prof Hugh Taylor, Harold Mitchell Chair of Indigenous Eye Health at the University of Melbourne, and his co-authors conducted a national, random cluster sample survey of eye health in Indigenous children (5-15 years) and adults (40 years and older) in 30 communities across Australia.

MJA Media Release - OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY COSTS AUSTRALIA OVER $21 BILLION PER YEAR

In 2005, overweight and obese Australian adults cost the Australian economy $21 billion in direct health care and direct non-health care costs, plus an additional $35.6 billion in government subsidies, according to a study published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

Prof Stephen Colagiuri, Professor of Metabolic Health at the Boden Institute of Obesity, Nutrition and Exercise, University of Sydney, and his co-authors analysed data from the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle study, collected in 1999-2000 and 2004-2005.

MJA Media Release - HIGH-RISK CARDIOVASCULAR PATIENTS UNDERTREATED IN GENERAL PRACTICE

Patients who are at high risk of a cardiovascular event are substantially undertreated, according to the authors of a study published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

Dr Emma Heeley, Senior Research Fellow at the George Institute for International Health, and her co-authors conducted a nationally representative, cross-sectional survey of 322 GPs, who were asked to collect data on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and their management in 15-20 consecutive patients aged 55 years and over.

MJA Media Release - THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY TO REDUCE BURDEN OF DIABETIC KIDNEY DISEASE

Countries must act locally to reduce the global health burden caused by diabetic kidney disease, according to an article published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

Prof Robert Atkins, Head of Kidney Disease Prevention at Monash University, Melbourne, and Prof Paul Zimmet, Director Emeritus and Director of International Research at the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, write that World Kidney Day on 11 March is a time to intensify action on diabetic kidney disease.

The AMA welcomes the decision by the Medical Board of Australia to include vocationally registered GPs on the Specialist Register of the new national registration scheme that takes effect from 1 July 2010.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said the AMA last week wrote to the Board recommending that vocationally registered GPs be given Specialist General Practitioner status.

“The Board has made the right decision,” Dr Pesce said.