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POLITICIANS COME TO HEAR THE AMA PERSPECTIVE
The AMA held its annual Parliamentary Dinner on Wednesday 12 March in the Great Hall of Parliament House in Canberra. The dinner was a success with key politicians from both major parties in attendance.
The Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon, and the Leader of the Opposition, Dr Brendan Nelson, both addressed the dinner.
The address by AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, gave the AMA’s perspective of a range of key health issues. GP topics featured prominently in the address including MBS simplification, GP Super Clinics and education and training.
PREVENTION THE KEY COMBAT RISING OBESITY RATES
“Government action is needed to combat the obesity crisis,” Dr Capolingua said recently in the wake of a report commissioned by the Western Australian Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) highlighting the impact of obesity on the lives of Australians.
Dr Capolingua said prevention is the best way to tackle rising obesity rates, but strong Government action and public health campaigns were need to support preventative measures.
Click here to see more of the AMA press release on this issue.
ADMINISTERING THE ROUND THE CLOCK MEDICARE GRANTS – AUDIT REPORT
The Australian National Audit Office has recently released Audit Report No.25 2007-08 – Administering the Round the Round the Clock Medicare Grants. The objective of the audit was to examine the effectiveness of the Department of Health and Ageing’s (DoHA’s) administration of the RTCM: Investigating in After Hours General Practice Services program.
The audit concluded that DoHA’s administration of the program could be strengthened by improvements at the operational level and by evaluating the extent to which the program is meeting its objectives.
The ANAO has made suggestions and recommendations, accepted by DoHA, that will assist them to improve the administration of this program.
NPS EDUCATION AND RESEARCH PROGRAMS
The National Prescribing Service (NPS) launched an educational program for health professions, titled ‘Early use of insulin and oral antidiabetic drugs’, in February. The NPS program focuses on earlier treatment to reduce the progression of disease, reduce the risk of vascular complications and maximise overall health.
In addition the NPS is conducting research, which will be used to improve access to balanced and accurate information about complementary medicine. A random sample of GPs across Australia will receive a questionnaire via mail during March. The questionnaire will assess current complementary medicine knowledge, information needs and preferences of GP information sources. The NPS is encouraging all GPs who receive the questionnaire to participate in the survey and support this important area of research. After the completion of the survey a series of focus groups will be held to further inform the project.
For more information on these NPS programs click here.