12 minute read
News in brief
UNITED STATES
COVID-19 will be tamed by end of 2021 says Bill Gates In the meantime millions will die, mostly from the strain on healthcare systems and struggling economies, he says. In an interview with The Economist Gates said that there was hope in the medium term for taming the coronavirus, predicting that by the end of 2021 there would be a reasonably effective vaccine in mass production and a large enough share of the world’s population would be immunised to halt the pandemic in its tracks. But in the short term, he says, lockdowns will reduce access to immunisation and medicine for other diseases. Deaths from malaria and HIV will rise. Lower agricultural productivity will see hunger spread and education rates fall. The Gates Foundation has pledged more than $350 million to the COVID-19 response, mainly aimed at reducing its impact in the developing world. Wealthy countries need to do much more to stem the epidemic, he says. “We all need to spend billions to get the vaccine out to save the trillions that the economic damage is doing,” he said. Gates called on rich countries to buy vaccines for poor ones. This is not entirely altruistic. “If some countries remain reservoirs for the disease, it will continue to pop up again in others. If vaccines are priced high enough in rich countries to cover the fixed costs of production –clinical trials, building factories and so on – then the marginal cost of supplying poor countries would be relatively modest: of the order of $10-12 billion in total.” ‘We all need to spend billions to get the vaccine out to save the trillions that the economic damage is doing.’
WORLD
Alcohol consumption spikes during lockdown The epidemic has led to new habits of increased drinking. An Alcohol and Drug Foundation survey of more than a thousand people has found one in eight Australians have been drinking every day since the coronavirus outbreak began – much more than usual. One in 10 people reported consuming more than 10 standard drinks per week. Nearly one in five people said they wished they’d drunk less during the COVID-19 lockdown, with half hoping to cut down in the future. The release of the survey coincided with the launch of a campaign by the foundation called “Break the Habit”. It encourages people to consider their recent drinking patterns, help them recognise problem signs and how to turn them around. The campaign will also highlight that it takes just 66 days on average to form a habit, about the same period many Australians have spent in lockdown. The Alcohol and Drug Foundation chief executive, Dr Erin Lalor, said it was unsurprising people had looked for different ways to cope during the epidemic. “(It has) been incredibly hard for everyone, particularly for those who have lost work, social connectedness and ... lost loved ones. We’ve all been trying our best under challenging, never-before-seen circumstances.” She encouraged people to reach out for practical support. “Even small steps such as introducing alcohol-free days into your week, or having one less drink a day, can have a powerful impact.” ‘It takes just 66 days on average to form a habit, about the same period many Australians have spent in lockdown.’
AUSTRALIA
Lifestyle changes could reduce dementia cases Excessive drinking and exposure to pollution are among the risk factors. A report by the Lancet Commission on dementia prevention, intervention and care estimates that up to 40 per cent of dementia cases worldwide could be delayed or prevented by addressing 12 lifestyle factors. Previous studies had found that a third of dementia cases could be prevented by addressing nine lifestyle factors including midlife hearing loss, depression, less childhood education and smoking. The new report adds a further three risk factors to the list: excessive midlife alcohol intake, midlife head injuries and exposure to air pollution in older age. “Dementia is potentially preventable – you can do things to reduce your risk of dementia, whatever stage of life you are at,” said Gill Livingston, professor of psychiatry of older people at University College London and a co-author of the report. The incidence of dementia in Europe and North America has fallen by around 15 per cent per decade for the past 30 years. This has been attributed to lifestyle changes such as a reduction in smoking – even though the numbers of people with dementia are rising as people live longer. The researchers say that the impact of lifestyle interventions is likely to be greatest among the most deprived individuals and in low- and middle-income countries. ‘Dementia is potentially preventable – you can do things to reduce your risk of dementia, whatever stage of life you are at.’
AUSTRALIA
Unions combine with residents to save historic maternity hospital The NSWNMA has joined with the North Parramatta Residents Action Group and the CFMEU to save the Willow Grove and St George’s Terrace heritage sites. Willow Grove, a villa built in the nineteenth century, is an iconic former maternity hospital. Along with the neighbouring St George’s Terrace, it is slated for the wrecking ball, as part of the Berejiklian government’s $1.17 billion Parramatta Powerhouse proposal. NSWNMA Assistant General Secretary, Judith Kiejda, said the planned demolition of the two sites was devastating for the Parramatta community and the colonial history of maternity services. “Western Sydney is rich with heritage, yet the Berejiklian government appears hell bent on stripping that history away and burying it under a multi-million-dollar monument,” said Ms Kiejda. “Instead of prioritising hard hat and highvis ribbon cutting opportunities, the government should be preserving these properties and their historical significance for future generations. “The Parramatta light-rail project has been enough of a circus for the nearby Female Factory Precinct and efforts to obtain its world heritage listing. We won’t stand by and watch Willow Grove and St George’s Terrace go under a bulldozer without a fight.” The construction union, the CFMEU, has placed a green ban on the two sites. It is also promoting a petition in solidarity with the people of Parramatta to save the two sites. You can show your support for the campaign at: https://nsw.cfmeu.org/campaigns/
save-parramattas-heritage
AUSTRALIA
Illawarra Shoalhaven LHD to partner Birthing on Country Studies have shown Aboriginalcentred care can reduce preterm births by 50 per cent. The Birthing on Country program is preparing to sign a statement of commitment with the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District (ISLHD). Birthing on Country is a model of care provided to Aboriginal women and their families. It offers wraparound maternity support in the community and in hospital by providing intrapartum birth care and then postnatal care for up to six weeks. The program has been running at Waminda, a women’s health and welfare service on the New South Wales South Coast since 2018. “It is giving us ownership of our health and birthing babies on country in a place that they feel safe and there is no judgement,” said Melanie Briggs, a senior midwife at the centre. “Then they can have beautiful, healthy, chunky babies and be able to practise culture and community care and be looked after aunties and elders and mums.” ISLHD chief executive Margot Mains said it would provide greater maternity care options that were safe and respectful of culture and spirituality. “This includes the implementation of a long-term plan of action, targeted at addressing the maternal and perinatal gap in health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers and their babies,” she said. ‘It is giving us ownership of our health and birthing babies on country in a place that they feel safe.’ — Melanie Briggs
AUSTRALIA
A jobs plan is needed post-COVID, says ACTU Australia needs a national economic reconstruction strategy, including a comprehensive jobs plan, in response to the pandemic, argues the ACTU. In a pre-budget submission sent to the Treasurer, the ACTU says the Morrison government’s fiscal response has been smaller as a proportion of GDP than Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, USA, Hong Kong, Germany and the United Kingdom. The submission calls on the government to adopt a national economic reconstruction plan. The ACTU has put forward five practical proposals in its job plan: • A national strategy for early childhood education and care including free, universal, accessible childcare • A training for reconstruction plan which includes 150,000 free TAFE courses and a 50 per cent government wage subsidy that goes for the life of apprenticeship or traineeship • An initiative to help out travel and hospitality sectors and regions recover and survive • A plan to significantly boost investment in public capital projects by increasing public capital spending back to 6.5 per cent of GDP • A sustainable manufacturing strategy. ACTU President, Michele O’Neil, says “the Morrison government has been consistently slow to act … and the crisis has been made worse by persistent uncertainty about the economy”. “We stand ready, as we have for months, to work with government to create jobs and support Australian industries,” she said. ‘We stand ready, as we have for months, to work with government to create jobs and support Australian industries.’ — ACTU President, Michele O’Neil
AUSTRALIA
Victorian health workers catching COVID on the job A Victorian government report has found that 70–80 per cent of the state’s health workers testing positive to COVID-19 were infected at work. That’s compared to 22 per cent in the first wave. The report found infection of healthcare workers was greatest in areas where there were many patients with COVID-19 being cared for together, and where health-care workers congregated, such as tea rooms. Other contributing factors were the increased risk associated with donning and doffing personal protective equipment (PPE), staff moving between healthcare facilities, and poor ventilation systems with inadequate air flow. The report found health-care workers in aged care accounted for around two in five infections, and hospital workers around one-third. By the end of August the number of health workers infected with COVID-19 in Victoria had exceeded 2800. “Controlling the number of new healthcare worker infections is essential, not only for healthcare workers but for the sustainability of our healthcare system, and to reduce the overall number of cases,” commented Alicia Dennis, an Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne in The Conversation. The Victorian government has convened a Healthcare Worker Infection Prevention and Wellbeing Taskforce bringing together infection control experts and workforce representatives to formulate a response to the report. ‘Controlling the number of new healthcare worker infections is essential, not only for healthcare workers but for the sustainability of our healthcare system.’ — Associate Professor Alicia Dennis
AUSTRALIA
Opioids still the leading cause of overdose deaths in Australia Over 2000 Australians are dying from drug overdoses every year and there is a clear trend upwards. Australia’s Annual Overdose Report, compiled by the independent health research unit, the Penington Institute, found that 1556 of the 2070 fatal overdoses were unintentional. It found 70 per cent of victims were men and 400 more Australians died from an overdose than on the nation’s roads, with the gap widening. The largest number of overdose deaths (more than 1000) involved opioids such as heroin, morphine, oxycodone and fentanyl followed by benzodiazepines such as Valium. Opioid-related deaths in Australia have been on an upward trend in recent years, having doubled since 2006. A large driver of increasing opioid deaths internationally has been the increase in prescribing and use of pharmaceutical opioids, with Australia ranked tenth worldwide. Australia has introduced a range of strategies to manage and restrict supply, including re-scheduling codeine to prescription-only, introducing smaller pack sizes, and setting up systems to track prescribing. As many of these changes have only been implemented recently, it’s too early to know whether they’re having a positive effect. “Overdose is our hidden health crisis – and it’s a crisis that is costing us billions. And what’s worse is these deaths are preventable,” the Penington Institute’s chief executive, John Ryan said. ‘Overdose is our hidden health crisis – and it’s a crisis that is costing us billions.’ — John Ryan, Penington Institute
CROSSWORD SOLUTION
VALE Susan Patricia Rose
1958–2020
Susan commenced her nursing training in 1977 at Lismore Base Hospital. She graduated three years later. On completion of her training, she began work in the operating theatres and she remained working in operating theatres for the rest of her working life – some 40 years.
She married her husband, John, in 1980 and was the proud, loving, devoted mother to three boys: Daniel, Matthew and Michael, and proud grandmother to two young boys. She was due to welcome two more grandchildren in October, including the arrival of her first granddaughter.
A devoted follower of the Parramatta Eels, Liverpool, and Brisbane Royal, she loved sport and encouraged her boys to partake in sporting activities.
Her nursing career encompassed all facets of perioperative nursing, from anaesthetic, recovery and scrub/scout. Her skills were beyond par and provided her fellow colleagues with confidence knowing they were in good hands.
She was an exceptional perioperative nurse without question, but Sue also ensured the wisdom of perioperative practice over her 40 years was passed on to our novice and graduate nurses.
Sue always had compassion and understanding for her patients and colleagues and was always one to ask “Are you okay?” when she sensed things were not as they should be. She taught and mentored with kindness and patience, never condescension.
She was a respected member of the team and much loved by her colleagues, who found working with her a delight, privilege and pleasure. Susan cared about her patients and her colleagues. She always treated people so nicely, making new people feel so welcome and valued. Her st rong work et h ic a nd professionalism provided a role model to other members of the team. Staff wanted to work with her; Susan had such compassion and kindness for people. We all miss her infectious laugh and quirky sense of humour, as well as her diligent work ethic. Never one to leave her work half done, she brought with her the ethos of days gone by when all work – especially the end-of-day cleaning – was done to an exemplary level, before leaving the workplace, regardless of what ungodly time that was. We all used to laugh and say “We’d better not stand still too long, or she will clean us too”.
Susan succumbed to illness this year after a short fight. She is and always will be dearly missed by her colleagues.
