Under-funding is not the main reason for the crisis in Australia’s public hospitals. A far bigger problem is systemic stupidity. Before the pandemic, Tasmania’s public hospital system was the nation’s standout basket case. But the malaise, rather like a virulent infectious disease, has spread. Now every state has the same scandals: critically ill patients waiting Continue reading »
Health
Climate scientists reveal data that earth’s heating is accelerating, heat extremes are increasing and 1.5C has been breached faster than forecast. We are failing to treat climate change as the single greatest threat to humanity. At the same time our government has announced a gas strategy which increases emissions and the earth’s heating. Either we Continue reading »
I haven’t much time free today and with the federal government’s fiscal statement coming out tomorrow night and wage data and the labour force data coming out Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, it is going to be a full week. Given I am using all my time to finish the manuscript for my next book which…
A new report has found the ministry spends £3 billion a year on maternity services but paid out an 'eye-watering' £1.1 billion in claims for 2022-23
Ill health, perhaps especially mental ill health, is generally seen as a personal issue, requiring diagnosis and treatment. But at the population level, mental health problems have a profound message for our societies and their futures. We need to pay it more heed. A new international review has concluded that rates of emotional problems such Continue reading »
Promoting culturally sensitive oral health care for elderly Muslim migrants is vital to address disparities in oral health among cultural and linguistic diverse communities in Australia. Australia’s multicultural landscape is expanding, with more than seven million people born overseas, representing 28% of the overall population. Between 2016 and 2021, the number of people speaking a Continue reading »
In 1964, the first US Surgeon-General’s report on smoking and health was published. The tobacco industry could veto the proposed members of the committee set up to write it. Today, the idea of giving the tobacco industry power over government processes would cause outrage. Likewise, the idea of big businesses or unions setting tax policy Continue reading »
Former Australian Prime Minister (yep, really), Scott Morrison, has written in his new book about his painful battle with the disease endometriosis. Mr Morrison, or ScoMo, as he prefers to be referred to, revealed that he believed that he had... Read More ›
Back in 1947 the W.H. Auden poem, The Age of Anxiety, was published a year after he renounced his British citizenship for US citizenship. Today the title could encompass an omnibus of community concerns and has also now led to awareness of what is being called eco-anxiety. That condition is the subject of significant research Continue reading »
Hardeep Matharu, Editor of Byline Times, explains why the May 2024 print edition focuses on the denial of human rights and basic care to people with learning disabilities