A third of Australian cancer deaths relate to poor lifestyle - 3 February, 2007
Tomorrow is World Cancer Day, a time to contemplate a disease that will be diagnosed in almost one in three Australians by their 75th birthday...More

Second-tier medicos a skills issue - 3 February, 2007
A push to introduce US-style physician assistants in Australia is gathering steam...More

New Private Health Insurance Rules - 1 February, 2007
The Minister for Health and Ageing, Tony Abbott, released the Draft Private Health Insurance Rules for industry consideration...More

Murdoch makes AIDS plea to business - 1 February, 2007
Lachlan Murdoch has visited Papua New Guinea to promote business involvement in the fight against HIV-AIDS...More

State/Territory News

Emergency medical plan 'won't work' - 23 February, 2007 (NSW)
A leading medical specialist has attacked the NSW Government's plans for an emergency transfer of patients to hospitals outside the Sydney CBD in the wake of a terrorist attack, saying the citywide traffic jam caused by the Queen Mary 2 visit shows it could not work...More

State and Territory health priorities welcomed - 15 February 2007
AGPN - Health reform principles decided upon at the Council for the Australian Federation attended by all state and territory government premiers and chief ministers have been applauded by Australia's peak body representing 19 divisions of general practice...More

State's indigenous pact - 12 February, 2007 (QLD)
A contract between indigenous mayors and the State Government targetting specific health, education and crime outcomes will be drawn up in an attempt to improve conditions in remote communities...More

Tired kids a weighty issue - 7 February, 2007 (QLD)
Children who do not get enough sleep are more likely to be overweight than those who get more..More

Medical selection flawed - 4 February, 2007 (QLD)
Medical schools select students on the basis of knowledge rather than ability to solve problems, according to experts who are calling for entry tests to be rigorously revised...More

International News

For healthcare, put kids and prevention first - 26 February, 2007 (US)
That's what one study recommends.  Yet the US and others spend little on prevention...More

NHS cash fears 'may not hit care' - 24 February, 2007 (UK)
The end of the NHS's record budget rises does not mean health services will suffer, experts say...More

Job burn-out 'ups diabetes risk' - 24 February, 2007 (UK)
People who suffer from job burn-out may be prone to developing type 2 diabetes, research suggests...More

Some employers are offering free drugs - 21 February, 2007 (US)
For years, employers have been pushing their workers to pay more for health care, raising premiums and out-of-pocket medical expenses in an effort to save money for the company and force workers to seek only the most necessary care...More

Doctors' regulatory power 'to go' -  21 February, 2007 (UK)
Doctors are set to lose the power to regulate themselves and senior medics will face regular MOT-style checks under a planned shake-up of regulation...More

Human tested as bird flu hits Moscow farms - 21 February, 2007 (Moscow)
Thousands of Russians were undergoing tests last night after an outbreak of bird flu at chicken farms on Moscow's outskirts...More

Health teams in flu pandemic test - 20 February, 2007 (UK)
Hundreds of health officials from across Britain have taken part in an exercise to see how to deal with a flu pandemic..More

Bush urges action on health insurance - 17 February, 2007 (US)
President Bush urged Congress again on Saturday to create a tax break that would help people buy private health insurance outside the workplace...More

Warnings over privacy of U.S Health Network - 17 February, 2007 (US)
The Bush administration has no clear strategy to protect the privacy of patients as it promotes the use of electronic medical records throughout the nation's health care system, federal investigators say in a new report...More

Coaching can help older adults speak up at Medical visits - 15 February, 2007 (US)
Coaching sessions can help seniors become more assertive during medical visits, suggests a new review of studies on methods to increase older patient's involvement in their own healthcare...More

A health care plan so simple, even Stephen Cobert couldn't simplify it - 15 February, 2007 (US)
In his State of the Union address, President Bush proposed tax cuts to make health insurance mor affordable for the uninsured...More

S.Africa alters AIDS plan after extreme TB threat - 15 February, 2007 (Africa)
Cape Town - South Africa is overhauling its AIDS strategy in a bid to counter the rise of extreme drug resistant tuberculosis which is proving a serious threat to those suffering HIV/AIDS a senior official said on Thursday...More

Scientists warn that bird-flu virus remains a threat - 15 February, 2007 (US)
Last winter, as the deadly bird-flu virus marched out Asia, across Europe and down into Africa, public health experts warned of the potential for a catastrophic pandemic like the Spanish flu of 1918...More

Decades-long study to probe a range of diseases - 15 February, 2007 (US)
US researchers are launching a major population-based study to examine the genetic and environmental factors that may cause many diseases, including asthma, Alzheimer's, cancer, depression, diabetes, heart disease and reproductive problems, among others...More

Senators seek new push on health care - 14 February, 2007 (US)
A bipartisan group of senators on Tuesday signated a willingness to work with President George W Bush on an effort to improve the US health care system, saying it was crucial to rein in costs and expand coverage to the uninsured...More

Adding up the reasons for expensive health care - 14 February, 2007 (US)
...The reason the system has been so resistant to change is that lots of powerful interests do very nicely with things just the way they are...More

States and U.S at odds on aid for uninsured - 13 February, 2007 (US)
In the absence of federal action, governors and state legislators around the country are transforming the nation's health care system, putting affordable health insurance within reach of millions of Americans in hopes of reversing the steady rise in the number of uninsured, now close to 47 million..More

Doctors and drug-makers: A move to end cozy ties - 12 February, 2007 (US)
Tomorrow, a new push is scheduled to be announced by the Community catalyst, a health care consumer advocacy group based in Boston...More

Moves to vaccinate girls for cervical cancer draw fire - February, 2007 (US)
Subscription required (Wall Street Journal) Bills being drafted in some 20 US states that would make a cervical cancer vaccine mandatory for preteen girls are sparking a backlash among parents and consumer advocates...More

Funding concerns hit some cancer trials - February, 2007 (US)
Subscription required (Wall Street Journal) The 10 federally funded cancer cooperative groups, which enroll nearly half of the patients in the nation who are participating in cancer trials, have begun to shut down trials and stop studying certain cancers amid funding concerns...More

Employers urged to plan for flu pandemic - 8 February, 2007 (US)
The US government urged employers on Tuesday to develop plans to cope with a possible flu pandemic, suggesting letting employees work from home and encouraging sick workers to stay home with reprisals...More

Study: Moral beliefs may sway docs' care - 7 February, 2007
A disturbing number of doctors do not feel obliged to tell patients about medical options they oppose morally, such as abortion and teen birth control and believe they have no duty to refer people elsewhere for such treatments, researchers say...More

No more Mars bar ads for children - 5 February, 2007 (UK)
The company that makes chocolate bars such as Mars and Snickers, is to stop targeting its advertising at under-12s...More

Fatal bird flu reaches Britain- 5 February, 2007 (UK)
A cull of nearly 160,000 turkeys began yesterday after Britain's first outbreak of the potentially lethal Asian strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus...More

Shocking pictures help turn tide against tobacco - 3 February, 2007
Brussels: In Thailand, a photo of a cracked-open chest exposing two blackened lungs left little to the imagination...More

MP's to scrutinise drug watchdog - 2 February, 2007 (UK)
MPs are to investigate the workings of the NHS drug watchdog...More

Bush seeks big Medicare and Medicaid saving - 2 February, 2007 (US)
President Bush will ask Congress in his budget next week to squeeze more than $70 billion of savings from Medicare and Medicaid over the next five years, administration officials and health care lobbyists said Thursday...More

Bush urges parents to get kids outdoors - 1 February, 2007 (US)
President Bush said Thursday that childhood obesity is a costly problem for the country and puts stress on American families...More

Other News

Creating accountable care organizations: The extended hospital care staff - February 2007
Commonwealth Fund report now available

Benefit design innovations: implications for consumer-directed health care - Febuary 2007
Issue Brief No. 109 now available

Health Human Resources policy in the 21st Century
Canadian Report now available

Inferring the value of medical research to the UK
Report now available

Why read this: Tell your boss: Naps are good for you!
At last, science has come up with proof that naps are good for you...More

Self-pay markets in health care: Consumer Nirvana or Caveat Emptor?
Health System Change article now available

Slowing the growth of U.S health care expenditures: What are the options?
Commonwealth fund - Document now available

Health Systems in Transition: Australia Health System Review (WHO)
Document now available for download