11 minute read
News in brief
SPAIN
Spain bins its version of WorkChoices
New labour laws aim to reduce precarious employment.
Spanish workplace laws that gave disproportionate power to employers, eroded workers’ rights and stunted wage growth have been consigned to the scrap heap with the introduction of a new labour code. The old laws were introduced in 2012 by the conservative government of Mariano Rajoy following pressure by the country’s European Union creditors and the International Monetary Fund in the wake of the GFC, which led to a severe economic crisis in Spain. The new laws are aimed at bolstering job security and ending the precarious work that led to millions of people in Spain losing their jobs every time there was an economic downturn. At 20 per cent, Spain has the highest share of temporary workers in Europe – double the EU average. Unions welcomed the new changes. Even employers have accepted that a new formula was needed to eradicate “unfair competition”. “We want to recover the balance in labour relations that deteriorated under the previous reform,” Unai Sordo, head of Comisiones Obreros, Spain’s biggest union, told Reuters.“Collective bargaining cannot be aimed at making wages more precarious,” said Rosa Santos, the lead negotiator for CEOE – Spain’s employer association. Spain’s Labour minister and deputy prime minister, Yolanda Díaz, said the labor reform was the fruit of nine months of negotiation between the government, unions and business groups. “This agreement improves the lives of the workers in this country,” she said. ‘This agreement improves the lives of the workers in this country.’
— Spanish Minister of Labour, Yolanda Díaz
WORLD
Obesity levels balloon in children
Many poor countries are now facing a “double epidemic” of malnutrition and obesity. Childhood obesity has accelerated in many countries during the pandemic as children sit still at home for longer, often in front of a screen. A global study published in 2017 in The Lancet projected that if the trends seen at the time continued, by 2022 obesity in children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 years would surpass for the first time the share who were underweight. That prediction now appears to have come true, reports The Economist. Where obesity in children is most prevalent is somewhat surprising. More than a quarter of the world’s overweight children under the age of five live in Africa and 48 per cent are in Asia. Children’s eating habits and levels of physical activity have changed for the worse during the pandemic. In Germany, for example, 28 per cent of three- to five-year-olds engaged in less physical activity and 20 per cent consumed more sugary snacks during the pandemic. In rich countries, childhood obesity is concentrated in poor families. In poor countries, however, it is a middleclass problem – so as average incomes rise, more children are moving into the overweight zone. Many poor countries are now facing a “double epidemic” of malnutrition and obesity. ‘Of overweight children under five, 27% live in Africa and 48% are in Asia.’
AUSTRALIA
Diabetes rises globally by 16 per cent during COVID
Ten per cent of the world’s population aged between 20 and 79 now live with diabetes. New figures show global diabetes has increased by 16 per cent in the past two years, with 537 million adults (aged 20 to 79) now estimated to be living with the chronic condition. Researchers say COVID has stopped us doing some of the things that help prevent and manage diabetes, leading to an increase in sedentary behaviour that they say was already at dangerous levels pre-COVID. Some estimates indicate the pandemic has added an average three hours to our sitting time each day. Data from the International Diabetes Federation’s 10th Diabetes Atlas (https://diabetesatlas.org/) shows about 10 per cent of the world’s population aged 20 to 79 now live with diabetes, and diabetes prevalence is predicted to
steadily increase to around 784 million adults by 2045. According to the atlas, the poorest are hit hardest by diabetes and it “is spiralling out of control”. The global survey found that: • more than three in four adults with diabetes live in low- and middle-income countries • diabetes has caused at least $US966 billion dollars in health expenditure – a 316 per cent increase over the last 15 years • diabetes was responsible for 6.7 million deaths in 2021 – one person every five seconds. Researchers from the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, writing in The Conversation, said regular movement is the key way to help manage diabetes and help prevent complications. “Getting moving effectively improves glucose control, blood pressure, vascular health and memory,” they wrote. ‘The pandemic has added an average three hours to our sitting time each day.’
CROSSWORD SOLUTION
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WORLD
Omicron – the most contagious virus in history?
The new variant conquered the planet in less than a month.
A comparison between measles – until now a candidate with strong claims to being the most infectious disease – and Omicron is instructive. According to Roby Bhattacharyya, an expert in infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital, one person with measles infects another 15 on average in the absence of vaccination, compared to the six infected by Omicron. The key, however, is in the so-called generation time: the days that elapse from when the first person is infectious until those infected by it are also infectious. About 12 days go by with measles. In the case of Omicron, it only takes four or five days. It is explosive. “A case of measles would give rise to 15 cases within 12 days. A case of Omicron would originate another six at four days, 36 cases at eight days and 216 at 12 days,” Bhattacharyya told the Spanish daily El País. In 35 days there would be 280,000 Omicron cases and 2,700 of measles in the absence of vaccines. Medical historian Anton Erkoreka told El País that Omicron “is the most explosive virus with the most rapid diffusion in history”. The black plague of the sixteenth century and cholera in the nineteenth century (both bacterial infections) took years to expand globally. The original COVID variant detected in 2019 took three months to cross the planet. “The Omicron variant has beaten that record of expansion,” said Erkoreka.
UNITED KINGDOM
Time to rein in “Wild West” aged care operators
Vulture private equity firms prioritise profit over care. A BBC investigation has exposed sharp practices among Britain’s largest aged care providers leading to calls for accountability – even from a former Conservative health minister. The BBC exposé was based on a financial analysis by Australian campaigner Jason Ward – from the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research (CICTAR) – who has done similar work in Australia for the ANMF and NSWNMA. Jason used forensic accounting techniques to show that three of Britain’s biggest care home groups owned by private equity firms, with intricate corporate structures based in the Cayman Islands, were saddled with massive amounts of debt. He found that a significant amount of the revenue that came out of the pockets of the vulnerable aged or from subsidies from cash-strapped local authorities ended up in this tax haven, or in outsized dividends, or were used to pay off this debt rather than being spent on care. Jason said it is a “a common private equity tactic” to move “money out of the operating companies and to the ultimate investors in a way that maximises their profit”. Former health minister Jeremy Hunt described the sector to the BBC as “the Wild West” and “the unacceptable face of capitalism”.
Watch the BBC exposé
You can watch the BBC Panorama report, ‘Crisis in care: Follow the money’ at: https://www.bbc. co.uk/programmes/m0012cbj
AUSTRALIA
Telehealth cuts cause ‘mayhem’
Federal government puts money before care. Again. At the moment when Omicron exploded in late December, the federal government responded with changes to the Medicare Benefits Schedule that restricted phone consultations for a long list of specialist items, which impacted on patients most vulnerable to COVID. These changes will limit telehealth for cancer patients, psychiatry patients, the elderly and people in remote areas, clinicians have warned. President of the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA) and medical oncologist, Professor Fran Boyle, told The Guardian that the timing of the changes was “appalling” considering the dramatic increase in COVID cases across the nation. She said the changes to MBS item numbers, intended to help people with cancer and other illnesses, would limit access to care for vulnerable demographics, particularly in remote areas. The government says the changes were intended to encourage the take-up of video consultations and reduce the number of phone consultations. Professor Boyle said “overwhelmingly” patients took up phone consultations as video added a “layer of complexity” and wasn’t an option for many – notably older people and others with limited access to technology and reliable internet in regional and rural Australia. The AMA said “acknowledging we are still in a pandemic” would have seen the availability of item numbers extended, not reduced. AMA President, Dr Omar Korshid, said the health department had been “very much of the mind” that phone consultations should be limited. “Presumably with concern they’ll cost more money,” he said. ‘The changes will limit telehealth for cancer patients, psychiatry patients, the elderly and people in remote areas.’
SPAIN
Study finds green space alleviates PMS
Scientists from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health and the University of Bergen found that women living in neighbourhoods with more green space had fewer premenstrual syndrome (PMS) symptoms and were less likely to experience anxiety, depression, difficulty sleeping, breast tenderness or abdominal bloating. The study, published in Environment International, adds to a growing body of evidence of the health benefits associated with natural environments. Lead author Kai Triebner, a researcher at the University of Bergen, told The Guardian: “Three of the four symptoms that improved with exposure to green space were psychological, which is consistent with what we already knew: contact with nature helps to reduce stress and improve mental health.” Triebner said green space lowered levels of cortisol. “Stress can worsen PMS symptoms and increase levels of the hormone cortisol, and in turn could be associated with an increased release of progesterone, which has been linked to the occurrence of PMS symptoms,” he said. The research is “another building block” in understanding of what the best conditions are to live healthily. The research found that women needed to be exposed to green space for a long time to get the most benefits. “Our research underscores the importance of long-term exposure to green space, which is where benefits against PMS symptoms were found,” said Payam Dadvand from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, another researcher involved in the study.
RECRUIT A NEW MEMBER AND GO INTO THE DRAW TO WIN A REJUVENATING HOLIDAY AT THE SEBEL SYDNEY MANLY BEACH
THE 2021– 22 NSWNMA MEMBER RECRUITMENT SCHEME PRIZE
Enjoy a stylish retreat just steps from the water in Sydney’s vibrant seaside suburb at The Sebel Sydney Manly Beach. Located a short 30-minute ferry ride from Sydney CBD, Manly offers laidback vibes and plays host to one of Sydney’s most stunning beaches. Stay in a recently refurbished Studio Ocean View room, offering a stylish furnished balcony – the perfect spot for morning coffee. You’ll be within walking distance of Manly’s many restaurants, cafés, bars and shops and the area’s picturesque coastal walks. You and a friend will experience: • 4 nights’ accommodation in a Studio Ocean View Room • Welcome bottle of wine • Daily a la carte breakfast for two adults • Complimentary parking • Complimentary WiFi • The NSWNMA will arrange return flights for two to Sydney (if flights are required)
PRIZE DRAWN 1 JULY 2022
RECRUITERS NOTE: Join online at www.nswnma.asn.au
Every member you sign up over the year gives you an entry in the draw! If you refer a member to join online, make sure you ask them to put your name and workplace on the online application form, so you will be entered in the draw.
