more_vertA Nigerian obstetrician once asked me why I didn’t—as he did in his campaigning work—display photographs of haemorrhaging teenage girls, perforated uteri, and prolapsed bowels: the images from the front-line of his daily battle against death from unsafe abortion. In high-income countries with permissive legal regimes and fairly easy access to safe abortion services, people are protected from the bloody consequences of illegal abortion. It has been an easy badge of honour for pro-choice advocates that we draw on research and avoid mirroring the inflammatory language and graphic imagery used by some anti-abortion groups.
Preference: Administration and Health Services
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[Series] Access to pathology and laboratory medicine services: a crucial gap
As global efforts accelerate to implement the Sustainable Development Goals and, in particular, universal health coverage, access to high-quality and timely pathology and laboratory medicine (PALM) services will be needed to support health-care systems that are tasked with achieving these goals. This access will be most challenging to achieve in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), which have a disproportionately large share of the global burden of disease but a disproportionately low share of global health-care resources, particularly PALM services.
[Department of Error] Department of Error
Sperber A. Mediators help migrants access health services in Italy. Lancet 2018; 391: 1468–69—In this World Report, the name of one contributor, Ousmane Thiam, was occasionally misspelled. The online version has been corrected as of April 27, 2018.
Your AMA Federal Council at work
| Dr Chris Moy | Federal Council Area representative for South Australia & Northern Territory | Australian Digital Health Agency My Health Record Expansion Program Steering Group | 8/8/217 & 7/12/17 | ||
| Prof Mark Khangure | Member of AMA Federal Council and AMA Health Financing & Economics Commttee | ADHA My Health Record Diagnostic Imaging Programme Steering Group | 5/11/17 | ||
| Dr Richard Kidd | Chair – Council of General Practice | My Aged Care Gateway Advisory Group | 05/03/18 | ||
| Dr Richard Kidd | Chair – Council of General Practice | PIP Advisory Group | 09/03/18 | ||
| Dr Richard Kidd | Chair – Council of General Practice | DVA Health Provider Forum | 12/04/18 | ||
| Dr Richard Kidd | Chair – Council of General Practice | PIP Advisory Group | 13/4/2018 | ||
| Dr Tony Bartone | AMA Vice President | TGA Consultative Committee | 10/04/18 | ||
| Dr Gino Pecoraro | Federal Council Member – obstetrician/gynaecologist | National Strategic Approach to Maternity Services Advisory Group | 06/03/18 | ||
| Dr Beverly Rowbotham | Chair of Federal Council | ADHA My Health Record Pathology Steering Group | 23/04/18 |
[Perspectives] Kenneth Fleming: making the global case for pathology
Some years ago, and while still occupying a senior post in the administration of medical training and research at the UK’s University of Oxford, pathologist Kenneth Fleming was at a meeting in Bangkok. He got talking to a fellow Oxford academic who was living and working in Thailand. On enquiring if he could help locally in any way, Fleming learned that the country had a pressing need for more staff and resources in pathology. This was the first time he realised that the provision of pathology services was a major but neglected problem not only in that part of Asia but also over much of the globe.
[Comment] Pathology and laboratory medicine: the Cinderella of health systems
High-quality pathology and laboratory medicine (PALM) services are an integral part of health systems in high-income countries. New molecular diagnostic techniques, advances in precision cancer treatments, and population-based screening programmes for disease prevention or early detection have made PALM an even more important part of modern medicine and health care. And yet, even in high-income countries, the role of PALM is not well understood by the general public, and pathology remains a somewhat unpopular specialty in medicine.
[Comment] Laboratory medicine in low-income and middle-income countries: progress and challenges
Laboratory medicine is essential for disease detection, surveillance, control, and management.1 However, access to quality-assured laboratory diagnosis has been a challenge in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) resulting in delayed or inaccurate diagnosis and ineffective treatment with consequences for patient safety.1 In the new Lancet Series2–4 on pathology and laboratory medicine (PALM) in LMICs, Michael Wilson and colleagues2 provide a comprehensive analysis of the challenges and gaps that limit access to PALM services.
Snippets
President in good company
AMA President Dr Michael Gannon recently attended the World Medical Association Council Session in Latvia. Environmental health, reproductive health, pandemic influenza, nuclear weapons, and telemedicine were just some of the agenda items discussed. Dr Gannon can be found in this pic, just left of centre in a middle row (kind of).
Nobel Prize Winner for Leadership Development Dinner
Nobel Prize Winner Associate Professor Tilman Ruff is the keynote speaker at the AMA Leadership Development Dinner on Friday, May 25 at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra. He is Co-President of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW, Nobel Peace Prize 1985); and founding international and Australian Chair of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2017 “for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons”.
For more info see: ausmed/safeguarding-planetary-health-banning-nuclear-…
Women remembered on Anzac Day
Senior member of the AMA, and retired colonel, Associate Professor Susan Neuhaus became the first woman to deliver the Anzac Day dawn service address at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
She used the occasion to highlight the often overlooked role of women in the armed services and in particular the Australian Defence Force.
Her full speech can be found at: https://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/speeches/DawnService2018
Candidate profile – Dr Gino Pecoraro MBBS FRANZCOG
Nominating for the position of AMA President
My name is Dr Gino Pecoraro and I’m asking for your vote in the AMA National Presidential election.
Australia’s stressed healthcare system needs an upgrade. The ideal time for change is now, with Government reviewing the MBS and private health insurance value and affordability.
Our largely State-funded public health facilities are struggling to meet increasing demand and need ongoing additional funding. Private sector access is increasingly more expensive with non-indexed Medicare and PHI rebates causing greater out of pocket costs.
Some form of indexation (ideally one supported by the AMA) must be embedded in legislation. In this way, rebates can start to reflect the true cost of accessing services and keep medical care affordable.
Ensuring our GPs are adequately paid will help them give patients the time needed to deliver quality care and disease prevention. Ultimately, this will keep patients out of already crowded hospitals and save the health system money.
Similarly, PHI providers need to understand that their moves towards managed care models will not be tolerated and that patient choice of doctor and hospital must be protected in all policies.
Decreased demand for public hospital outpatient and inpatient services means money can be redirected to other areas e.g. emergency department waiting times and chronically underfunded mental health services.
Medical student numbers have radically increased without an increase in the number of postgraduate training positions. No more medical schools are needed. What students and doctors-in-training really need are an increase in the number of fully-funded postgraduate training positions. These positions need to be in the disciplines and locations where shortages exist. Relocation support needs to be provided for these doctors and their families.
The AMA President is expected to be the public face of the organisation and deliver our members’ policies to parliamentarians, the medical profession and the general public.
My extensive experience in medical politics is what makes me the best candidate, and includes:
- Senior roles with RANZCOG (Council, Board and Examinations);
- Ongoing association with the University of Queensland;
- 2010 Queensland AMA President and Board Member; and
- Current Federal Council representative for Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
I have been instrumental in the Federal Council’s formation of the Council of Private Specialist Practice, developed to serve a previously underrepresented part of our membership. I have acted on the AMA’s behalf to put a stop to the National Maternity Services Framework, which had been formed without a single doctor on the committee. I continue to represent the AMA on multiple Government committees.
An AMA President must be an effective communicator. I’m a seasoned media performer with 25 years’ experience encompassing print, radio, television and online platforms.
I continue to write columns for newspapers and magazines as well as having produced and presented State and national television shows. I have experience in live breakfast, drive and talkback radio.
My eight years’ experience on Federal Council means I fully understand the workings of both our organisation and the Government departments we seek to influence.
* See other candidate profiles on this site.
Candidate profile – Dr Jill Tomlinson MBBS(Hons), PG Dip Surg Anat, FRACS(Plast), GAICD
Nominating for the position of AMA Vice President
We are at a critical period of change in health. We are asked by Government and the community to do more with less. Healthcare costs are rising. Technology is changing how we practise, offering opportunities but also challenges. Our profession faces significant cultural change.
The AMA must remain relevant and engaged in this time of change. It needs a strong leadership team who will deliver advocacy, political representation and passion to do better for our patients and for the profession.
If elected, I will make digital strategy a key priority. Within the AMA, this means improving communication and engagement with members by expanding digital services and addressing barriers at State and Federal levels. The AMA must be where doctors are, and must support a strong AMA in every State.
Within the health system, a focus on digital strategy means strong advocacy for systems and programs that work for doctors, not create work for doctors. This is not just about My Health Record, it’s about real time prescription monitoring, secure messaging, data use and security, accessibility, interoperability, care co-ordination, the digital determinants of health and the regulatory and administrative burden on doctors. We must get digital systems right, or else – as we’ve seen with hospital constructions across the country – billions are spent but the final product doesn’t address the needs of patients or doctors.
Preventable illnesses associated with obesity are literally killing our patients. We need a radical, whole of community approach to the problem – one that drives meaningful change. We must advocate for public health improvements and make real investment in general practice, which is the most efficient part of the health system and has been neglected for too long. We must improve mental health care, aged care and veterans’ services. We must reduce inequality, and Close the Gap. We must be inclusive, and support equity and diversity. It’s the fair thing to do but it’s also in the best interests of our patients and the profession.
We must address workforce issues, including doctor and training position maldistribution. We must support medical students and doctors-in-training who are increasingly struggling to manage the overwhelming demands of training and service delivery. We must improve access to flexible training and end discrimination on the grounds of pregnancy, mental illness, disability, parental leave and return to work. We must advocate for marginalised individuals and groups that cannot speak for themselves.
We must fight for an independent profession. Patient care suffers when health funds control access to care or make decisions for patients; corporatisation increasingly affects general practice, radiology and pathology.
I seek your support and your vote at National Conference. I seek your advice and insights into how we can improve health in Australia as, while I have a vision for the AMA, I do not claim to have all the answers. And most importantly, I seek your enthusiasm, passion and engagement – only by working together will we achieve the best outcomes for our patients and the profession.
* See other candidate profiles on thios site.