Australian Medical Association

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that a new Australian study confirms the high safety risks and higher death rates associated with home births in Australia compared to hospital births.

The study of home and hospital births in South Australia between 1991 and 2006, published in the latest edition of the Medical Journal of Australia, shows that planned home births had a sevenfold higher risk of intrapartum death (occurring during delivery) and a 27-fold higher risk of death from intrapartum asphyxia than planned hospital births.

Dr Pesce said the study sends a strong signal to the Government that any policy decisions around maternity care must be evidence-based, not politically motivated.

“The AMA supports women having choice when it comes to labour and childbirth, but they must also have access to all the evidence to ensure that their choice is an informed choice."

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, today said good planning was a key to fulfilling New Year’s resolutions to quit smoking.

“Giving up smoking is a common New Year’s resolution, and with good planning smokers can increase their chances of successfully quitting smoking for ever,” Dr Pesce said.

“There are many ways to quit smoking and different methods will suit different people. For advice and support, see your GP who can talk you through the different methods and help with an approach that is best suited to you."

It’s the season to be jolly, but the AMA is reminding people that it is also the season to be sun smart to reduce the risk of skin cancer.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said many people look forward to spending time at the beach or taking part in other outdoor activities over the holiday period, following their family gatherings at Christmas.

“It’s easy to get carried away with the festivities at this time of year, but it’s important that Australians remember to slip, slop, slap, seek shade and slide on sunglasses to protect themselves from harmful UV exposure,” Dr Pesce said.

As Australians commence a season of parties and family get-togethers over the Christmas-New Year period, the AMA is highlighting the need for extra care with alcohol consumption and travel – not just for drivers, but also for pedestrians.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that intoxicated pedestrians have an injury pattern that is two to five times more serious than the injury rate for sober accident victims.

“There are many education and awareness programs around the risks of drink driving, but people tend to forget or ignore the very real dangers of walking when heavily intoxicated,” Dr Pesce said.

“The wobbly boots can lead a person straight to the emergency department or to an unexpected untimely death.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, today urged the Australian delegation to the Copenhagen climate talks to convince world leaders to implement plans to deal with the serious threats that climate change poses to human health globally.

Dr Pesce said that the AMA position is that failure to achieve significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions on a global basis is likely to result in significant public health concerns.

The health effects of climate change include increased heat related illness and deaths, increased food and water borne diseases, and changing patterns of diseases.  In addition to their impact on health infrastructure and services, extreme events such as droughts, flooding and storms could be responsible for death and disease.

“It is the AMA’s view that climate change is a significant worldwide threat to human health that requires urgent action,” Dr Pesce said.

“We recognise that human activity has contributed to climate change.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today the AMA fully supports the call by Australia’s disability and community sector for a National Disability Insurance Scheme.

The call was made at the National Press Club by Dr Rhonda Galbally, Patron of the National Disability and Carer Alliance and Chair of the National People with Disabilities and Carer Council, on behalf of a broad coalition of supporters.

The proposed Scheme is in line with the AMA’s long-held policy for a long term care scheme for the severely disabled.

MJA Media Release - Take your medicine with you to the hospital

Patients who are taken to hospital emergency departments by ambulance are less likely to suffer from medication errors if their own medicines are transported with them in the ambulance, according to a study published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

Ms Esther Chan, a pharmacist and PhD candidate, and her co-authors conducted an observational study of patients arriving by ambulance at the Austin Hospital in Melbourne between 13 and 31 March, 2006.

MJA Media Release - Bowel cancer screening program results in earlier detection

The introduction of the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program (NBCSP) has resulted in earlier detection of cases of colorectal cancer, which is expected to increase survival rates, according to a study published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

The NBCSP was launched in May 2006 and currently offers faecal occult blood testing to all Australians aged 50, 55 or 65 years of age.

Dr Sumitra Ananda, Medical Oncology Fellow at Royal Melbourne Hospital, and her co-authors reviewed data on colorectal cancer cases diagnosed between May 2006 and June 2008 from a prospective database used at 19 Australian hospitals.

MJA Media Release -  Call for mandatory reporting of golden staph bloodstream infections

Mandatory reporting of Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (bloodstream infections) should be introduced to help improved health care practices and save lives, according to an editorial published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, today urged people – particularly those who are identified as being at high risk – to contact their GP to make arrangements to be vaccinated against swine flu.

Higher risk people – including pregnant women, chronic disease sufferers, Indigenous Australians, and frontline health workers – will have priority for vaccination in the initial phase of the rollout, but others will not be precluded should there be an opportunity to vaccinate them early.

The national pandemic influenza vaccine campaign was launched in Perth this morning and the first supplies of the swine flu vaccine are available in general practices around the country from today.

Dr Pesce said the AMA welcomes the Government’s recognition of the role of Australia’s GP