President's update: Anzac Day, "Have the Jab Chat" launch, peptides, aged care, AMA26, and more
Tomorrow marks Anzac Day, a solemn day in our national calendar. It’s a time to recognise the service of men and women in our armed forces.
As the wife of a serving member, I extend the AMA’s and my gratitude to members who serve or have served in the forces, to their families for their loving support and to our members who treat veterans as patients. Veterans often present with complex health needs and it’s important that they are supported to access high quality care.
We’ve recently been working closely with the Department of Veterans Affairs to assist our members, who play a critical role in supporting veterans to access DVA-funded healthcare and compensation arrangements. We’re working to make DVA systems more transparent, easier to understand, and to ensure rebates keep pace with the true costs of providing care.
Yesterday, I was proud to launch our newest campaign “Have the Jab Chat.” Australia’s vaccination rates have fallen since the COVID-19 pandemic with coverage for key childhood vaccines below 95 per cent — the level needed for strong community protection. Immunisation is the most successful and cost-effective health intervention globally.
With more health information and misinformation everywhere we turn, it can be hard for Australians to pick fact from fiction. Misinformation and anti-science sentiment spread faster than facts in the febrile online environment. Increasingly sophisticated deepfakes can make sham information sound credible.
The campaign reinforces GPs’ trusted roles as expert frontline advisers at the heart of primary healthcare.
We are encouraging Australians to speak with their doctor about vaccinations because they deserve advice from a qualified practitioner, who brings clinical judgement and tailored evidence-backed advice to suit the patient’s specific health needs in a confidential setting.
So please share the campaign widely and use the opportunity to Have the Jab Chat with your patients.
And speaking of the dangers of relying on health claims cultivated online, I’ve had a number of recent media interviews about the online craze of peptides. These unapproved products are being peddled by influencers for everything from muscle building to weight loss, tanning to anti-ageing. I’ve had a few patients asking about these in practice, although I suspect many are too shy to raise it with their doctor. Each media opportunity is another chance to warn people of the harms of injecting or ingesting substances not approved for human use, and of buying health products online without any quality or safety oversight.
In other news, though also related to immunisation, we also released a new position statement this week calling for funding reforms to improve access to nurses in general practice. Our practice nurses are skilled, and the strong clinical governance frameworks mean it’s the right place to ensure nurses can get on with their role in the team. Inadequate Workforce Incentive Program payments, and outdated Medicare rules are making it difficult for some practices to employ and retain nurses. It’s time to help our teams work more effectively.
This week we saw a number of announcements made by Minister Mark Butler regarding aged care and the NDIS. As doctors, our priority is making sure patients can access high quality healthcare in a system that remains sustainable and equitable. Aged care clearly needs more investment. Supporting people to live safely at home or in aged care facilities, well cared for by their GP and broader care team is of course important for older Australians, but its also critical to clearing the logjam in our public hospitals.
We are concerned that funding for this will come at the expense of supports which enable older Australians to hold private health insurance. For too long, private health insurance levers like the rebates, Medicare levy surcharge and other policies have been neglected, and their value eroded. Broad, considered reforms are needed to ensure private insurance is delivering value for money.
Yesterday’s announcements don’t improve the affordability for young Australians, they just make insurance more expensive for older Australians on fixed incomes who are likely to need that insurance most. We will continue to call for a more comprehensive suite of reforms to protect the balance of public and private care in Australia.
Finally…I have got my ticket to AMA26. Have you? Early bird discounts close next Thursday 30th April…so get in quick! Don’t miss out on the opportunity to meet old friends and new in Melbourne from August 28-29th Book now
