Covid, hospital funding and preventative health in the news this week
The AMA President was in the nation’s papers and airwaves this week on a number of health-related issues.
“We have to admit Covid isn’t over yet,” warned AMA President Professor Steve Robson in headlines across the Sunday Newspapers last weekend.
In an op-ed carried across the papers Professor Robson pointed to the fact “Covid is the third-most common cause that Australians still die from,” and expressed concern at the low levels of booster uptake as a sense of complacency and a wish to move on from the pandemic have led to a blind spot in Australians’ thinking about the virus.
“Nobody, nobody wants this over more than doctors, let me tell you, having spent so much time treating people and being involved in the disruption of it all through the hospitals,” Professor Robson wrote.
“But at the end of the day you just have to grit your teeth and say: “It’s not over yet, if we all do what we know protects us then hopefully it will be over soon, but we are not quite there yet”.
Professor Robson was interviewed in a lengthy discussion on Disrupt Radio on the subject of the logjam in Australia’s public hospitals, and highlighted the numerous issues that need to be addressed if the public hospital system is to be fixed.
He pointed to the need to increase funding for hospitals and workforce, keeping avoidable ED admissions down by investing in general practice and preventative health, more access to care for complex and chronic conditions, and making sure there are out of hospital places for people who otherwise should not be in hospital.
Professor Robson spoke about the AMA’s ongoing campaign for a tax on sugary drinks on the Mamamia podcasttelling listeners “it would not only send a signal to Australians that, wow, this is something unhealthy and potentially bad for me, but it would also be a way of raising revenue for the government at a time where spending on health is increasingly important. So, it's a real win-win situation”.
