Opinions

The term ‘bikini medicine’ originally highlighted the narrow reproductive focus of women’s health research, but has since broadened into a much-needed campaign for equitable inclusion of women across all aspects of health care. Continued use of this patronising pejorative term may paradoxically diminish rather than augment the overall push for better women’s health. So it’s time to abandon the bikini and in the 21st century seek sex- and gender-specific medicine for the whole person.

Nicholas M Fisk, Caroline de Costa

The recent childhood vaccine changes in the USA, which substantially reduce the number of routine childhood vaccines, will sow more seeds of doubt and confusion in the community about the safety, efficacy and even the need of vaccines. We should not follow the opinions of politicians and of unsubstantiated antivaccine groups, but follow the science.

Gary Grohmann, Robert Booy

The cosmetic surgery industry in Australia has undergone significant regulatory reform in recent years in direct response to horrifying media reports of appalling patient stories and devastating outcomes. Plastic surgeons have been advocating for various reforms to the industry for many years, informed by our own experiences of seeing patients who had been harmed by those with inadequate surgical training and experience.

David Morgan

Clinical guidelines and consensus statements provide systematic aids to making complex medical decisions. These documents integrate various forms of evidence—including from scientific research, clinician experience, and patient perspectives—with the aim of improving patient care and health outcomes. In this issue of the MJA, Anneliese Synnot and colleagues report findings from their scoping review on the extent and nature of consumer engagement in the development of Australian clinical practice guidelines. Despite recommendations from major guideline bodies that the guideline development process include people with lived experience, Synnot and colleagues found that extensive lived experience engagement was not reported for the majority of guidelines that they assessed. These findings suggest the need for guideline developers and publishers to pay much closer attention to lived experience engagement in Australian guideline development.

Elizabeth Zuccula

MS Australia’s 2025 Research and Advocacy Priorities Survey captures what matters most to Australians affected by multiple sclerosis. Drawing on insights from more than 2 000 participants, it highlights evolving research and advocacy priorities, and provides a community‑driven roadmap to guide research investment, policy reform and clinical practice nationwide.

Tennille Luker, Julia Morahan, Rohan Greenland, David Tscharke

“One who suffers has something to teach… and thus has something to give.”

Meagan Brennan

Australia’s health system is confronting workforce, safety, equity, and sustainability crises, with profound consequences for patients, clinicians, and communities. These grand challenges cannot be solved without strong clinical insight at the governance table. Yet doctors remain under-represented on health boards, often because they underestimate their ability to contribute. This opinion piece outlines how clinical leadership at a governance level can significantly contribute to better patient care, safer workplaces, and a strong, sustainable health system.

Leanne Rowe

New research suggests that a specific group of brain cells acts as a master regulator for the brain’s waste clearance system, offering a potential new target for treating dementia.

Kai-Hsiang Chuang

With strengthened standards now in place, organisations have the mandate and the tools to treat transitions of care as a core unit of safety in aged care.

Simon Grof