Australian Medical Association

As part of the National Health Reform Consultation Summit at Canberra Hospital today, the AMA presented the Prime Minister and the Health Minister with a list of health policy priorities for immediate implementation to give Australians a better health system.

The AMA Priority Investment Plan for Australia’s Health System identifies seven key areas of the health system where urgent action will make a real difference for people seeking access to quality health services.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said the AMA Plan is simple, it is immediate, it is affordable, it is practical, and it is common sense.

“We are offering the Government real solutions to real problems,” Dr Pesce said.

AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, provides the AMA's immediate response to Budget 2009 at a news conference in the Parliamentary Press Gallery.

The audio of AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua's, response can be found via the link below:

• ABC News - Money stripped from health: AMA - audio

The AMA opposes a Federal Government plan to require doctors to hand over private patient records to Medicare Australia auditors.

The transcript and audio of AMA President Dr Rosanna Capolingua's interview with ABC Radio's AM program can be found via the links below:

• ABC Radio AM - Standoff over patients' records - transcript
• ABC Radio AM - Standoff over patients' records - audio

AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, today announced the winners (and losers) in the 2008 AMA/Australian Council on Smoking and Health (ACOSH) National Tobacco Scoreboard.

The Scoreboard allocates points to each State and Territory over a number of categories, including legislation, to track how effective each Government has been in combating smoking over the previous 12 months.

With scores of 71 points, Western Australia and Queensland are the joint winners for 2008.