Wednesday 18 April 2012
Pharmacy FAQs THE Pharmacy Board of Australia has posted answers to frequently asked questions regarding continuing professional development on its website. To view the FAQ’s visit www.pharmacyboard.gov.au.
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Aussie clinical trials growth THE number of clinical trials undertaken in Australia has grown for the first time in four years, according to new figures from the Therapeutic Goods Administration. The TGA’s latest Half-Yearly Performance Report found that in 2011 there were 635 new clinical trials started in Australia, up by 61 from 574 in 2010. This number however, is still down by 25% from the 2007 high of 865 trials in Australia. Speaking in the wake of the figures, Medicines Australia Chief Executive Dr Brendan Shaw welcomed the upturn saying it was “encouraging”. Shaw however stopped short of wholly praising the rise saying that there remained serious challenges to Australia’s status as a regional hub for clinical trials. “The latest figures don’t alleviate the need for urgent policy action to
Reducing risks THE Government is hoping to improve safety at suicide hotspots, by inviting organisations to apply for funding which will allow them to undertake capital works to reduce the risk of suicide at hotspot locations. “Funding can go towards improvements such as fencing barriers, night lighting, and closed circuit television monitors at known hotspots,” said the Minister for Mental Health, Mark Butler. See www.health.gov.au for details.
drive microeconomic and regulatory reform to secure the future of clinical trials in Australia,” Shaw said. “The Government’s commitment last year to a series of regulatory reforms to increase Australia’s competitiveness as a destination for clinical trials may have encouraged some investment over the past year. “But there has been insufficient progress in implementing these regulatory reforms,” he added. Shaw called on the Government to expeditiously implement the regulatory reforms, saying that the nation must act now to ensure it remains competitive.
Unhealthy athletics THE tide of unhealthy advertising in the sport world may be turning, with a University of Sydney study published in Health Promotion Journal of Australia finding that elite athletes do not want to front advertising for alcohol and junk food. The study looked at responses from 2,000 elite athletes and found that 91.5% showed a strong disinclination, on an individual level, to actively promoting unhealthy products. Despite this however, 54% of elite athletes surveyed accepted sport as a marketing vehicle for such products generally, a trend which researchers said might explain sport’s passive tolerance of unhealthy advertising.
Australians and the flu MANY Australians avoid flu vaccinations and instead rely on garlic, hand sanitiser and chicken soup to stay healthy, according to a new Priceline survey. The survey found that 52% of Aussies chose to protect themselves from the flu by using Vitamin C and multivitamins, whilst 42% chose hand sanitiser and regular handwashing, and 18% eat garlic. Other popular preventative methods included avoiding public transport (18%), eating chicken soup (10%), avoiding the gym (4%) and wearing a face mask (4%). “There’s so much conflicting information out there about what is the most effective way of preventing the flu,” said Bronwyn Flanagan, Pharmacy Services Manager for Priceline. “Research shows that vaccines are 70% to 90% effective in healthy people under 65, and in over-65s vaccines greatly reduce the risk of hospitalisation from respiratory illnesses,” she added. Key reasons that Australians chose not to get the flu vaccine, according to the survey results included: concerns that the flu vaccine is more dangerous than the flu (19%), not prone to getting the flu (16%), too expensive (13%), not enough time to get it (10%) and fear of needles (9.7%). “The risk of adverse reactions, which is really very minor, is far outweighed by the much more serious risk of flu, which causes an estimated 15,000 deaths and 18,000 hospitalisations in Australia each year,” Flanagan said.
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Pharmacy Daily Wednesday 18th April 2012
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