Speech - AMA Public Health Community Service Award - 'Party Safe', Canberra

Speech - Public Health Community Service Award ? 'Party Safe'

Toast Caf and Bar, Canberra

Thursday 19 December 2002

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**Check Against Delivery

Good morning everyone. Thank you for coming.

Today I am announcing the winner of the AMA?s Public Health - Community Service Announcement Video Competition.

This year, we received over 30 entries from film and television students from around the country. In the past this award has attracted a number of very talented young artists who have come up with some great ideas for promoting important public health messages.

This year is no exception so the judges had a tough job coming up with a winner.

I was joined on the judging panel by Mr Paul Dillon who is the Information/Media Liaison Manager at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre in Sydney and paediatrician, Dr Paul Bauert, who is chair of the AMA?s Public Health Committee.

The theme for this year's competition is PARTY SAFE.

Entrants were asked to produce a 30-second community service announcement to project positive harm reduction messages associated with partying, particularly the use of drugs like alcohol, ecstasy, amphetamines, GBH and ketamine.

While the AMA does not condone the use of illicit drugs, it does happen. As a community we need to work to ensure the harm associated with ?party drugs? is minimised. The AMA believes accurate, credible information must be available to young people, parents, doctors and the medical profession, emergency departments and venue owners. All these people have a responsibility to understand the risks and to promote safe practices.

This is often difficult, particularly for parents who have to negotiate the fine line between zero tolerance and harm minimisation, recognising that the ultimate harm minimisation is avoidance of illicit drugs and alcohol excess.

The AMA promotes choice on this issue.

Information is power. It allows young people to take control of their actions by making clear choices. Ultimately, each person must take responsibility for what they chose to do.

Evidence suggests good information helps young people make good choices.

The AMA has been a strong advocate for the protection and improvement of the health of young Australians. In 2001 the AMA convened its very productive youth health summit. Other ongoing youth projects are coordinated through the Commonwealth Bank sponsored Youth Health Advocate program at the AMA.

It was therefore appropriate during this year?s National Youth Week in May that the AMA continued it's leading role in advocating for Australia's young people by facilitating for the first time, a national forum to look specifically at recreational party drug use.

The use of ecstasy and other 'party drugs' appears to be increasing. Australian research shows that by 2001 6.1 per cent of the population had tried ecstasy ? up from 4.8 per cent in 1998.

These are alarming figures for everyone concerned. The AMA identified a clear need for more information. By the end of the summit a number of recommendations were made, including:

• The need for a targeted strategic research plan allowing an educated response to the issue of party drug use in our communities.
• The need to appropriately fund prevention and treatment programs
• The need to provide honest evidence-based information and education, distributed by a reliable, credible source. And
• The need to work closely with party drug users to ensure that culturally specific prevention and treatment strategies are formulated.

I believe by hosting this award the AMA is demonstrating its commitment to putting into action these recommendations. Doctors can play their part in addressing the problem of drug use but a broader community approach is needed to develop culturally appropriate health promotion campaigns.

This is exactly what we have for you today. The winner of the award has used the vibrant medium of 3D animation to promote what at the end of the day, are very simple messages:

Just say know

Knowledge is power.

Inform yourself of the risks and be aware that you as an individual are ultimately responsible for what you do when you are partying.

Buddy up

Party with a friend.

Watch out for each other.

Hydrate yourself

Drink moderate amounts of water during the evening particularly if you are dancing hard to avoid dehydration

And most of all

Party Safe

The winner of the AMA?s 2002 Public Health Community Service Announcement is
25-year-old Carl Baker who is a second year film and television student at the Queensland College of the Arts.

And now we?ll have a look at the winning entry ? PARTY SAFE.

(Video is screened)

I think you?ll agree this medium will appeal to a young audience and the message is very clear.

I now have great pleasure in presenting Carl with this cheque for $5,000, which I understand he plans to put towards his graduation film production next year.

Thank you.