The Western Australian Government is moving on vaping regulation, the South Australia Government is stepping up for Preventive Health SA, and New South Wales is to consult with Aboriginal people and communities on a treaty process.
The column this week also brings wide-ranging global health news, puts a focus on First Nations researchers, profiles some award-winners, and as always brings details of upcoming conferences and other events.
The quotable?
Progress towards Net Zero carbon emissions must not be lost to the fickle winds of political change, which has been the norm in Australia for 20 years – and which is two decades too long to fight spurious climate culture wars, in which everyone except the fossil fuel industry loses.”
Spotlight: plastics, and climate health policy
Science: Twenty years of microplastics pollution research—what have we learned?
The term microplastic was first used to describe microscopic fragments of plastic debris (~20μm in diameter) in a publication in 2004:
R. C. Thompson, Y. Olsen, R. P. Mitchell, A. Davis, S. J. Rowland, A. W. G. John, D. McGonigle, A. E. Russell, Lost at sea: Where is all the plastic? Science 304, 838 (2004).
Twenty years later, this article reviews current understanding, refine definitions and consider future prospects.
Microplastics arise from multiple sources including tyres, textiles, cosmetics, paint and the fragmentation of larger items. They are widely distributed throughout the natural environment, pervasive in food and drink, and have been detected throughout the human body, with emerging evidence of negative effects.
“Public concern is increasing and diverse measures to address microplastics pollution are being considered in international negotiations,” say these authors. “Clear evidence on the efficacy of potential solutions is now needed to address the issue and to minimise the risks of unintended consequences.
Internal Medicine Journal: What Australia must do to create a climate-responsive health system
This article puts forward recommendations for implementation of the National Health and Climate Strategy, saying this will “need new policies, projects and investments and a fit-for-purpose health workforce.”
The authors examine the roles of clinicians, hospital administrators, healthcare agencies, policymakers, politicians, patients and the providers and manufacturers in the supply chain, as well as clinicians’ groups, and departments of health.
Australia will need to invest more in health services research and the capacity to design and adopt new policies, they say, warning that, compared with research funding levels on health and climate in the European Union, Britain and the United States, Australia is a laggard.
The authors say that in the future, all healthcare procurement, commissioning and service planning decisions should make greater use of Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) to estimate greenhouse gas emissions from competing options.
“In the end, Australia will need to create a transparent, continuously improving policy environment to meet the objectives of the Strategy,” they say.
“Progress towards Net Zero carbon emissions must not be lost to the fickle winds of political change, which has been the norm in Australia for 20 years – and which is two decades too long to fight spurious climate culture wars, in which everyone except the fossil fuel industry loses.”
Global health
https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/sotf-pact_for_the_future_adopted.pdf
https://theelders.org/news/intergenerational-call-action-world-speaking-are-we-listening
The Task Force on Fiscal Policy for Health released a new report, ‘Health Taxes: A Compelling Policy for the Crises of Today’, showing that if all countries increased their excise taxes to raise prices of tobacco, alcohol and sugary beverages by 50 percent, it would generate US$3.7 trillion in additional revenue over five years.
Health Policy Watch: Searching for Creative Solutions Amid Dwindling Health Financing
https://theconversation.com/why-are-we-seeing-more-pandemics-our-impact-on-the-planet-has-a-lot-to-do-with-it-226827
Nature: The global H5N1 influenza panzootic in mammals
Historically, swine are considered optimal intermediary hosts that help avian influenza viruses adapt to mammals before jumping to humans, says this article.
However, the altered ecology of H5N1 has opened the door to new evolutionary pathways. Could dairy cattle, farmed mink, or South American sea lions serve as new mammalian gateways to humans?
These authors explore the molecular and ecological factors driving H5N1’s sudden expansion in host range and assess the likelihood of different zoonotic pathways leading to an H5N1 pandemic.
Health Policy Watch: Brazil Aims for G20 Declarations on Climate & One Health and Local Medicines Production at Rio Summit
Brazil is advancing two major health-related declarations – on climate and One Health and on local medicines production – that it hopes to have ready for the upcoming G20 Summit that it is hosting in Rio in November. The G20 Leaders’ Summit is scheduled for November 18 and 19, 2024 in Rio de Janeiro, and will be attended by 19 member states, plus the European Union and the African Union. 
Europeans’ Declining Health Boosts Support for Far-Right, Warns Think Tank
Health Policy Watch reports: Declining health is driving more citizens to support far-right, populist parties and reducing overall participation in the democratic process, according to a new review of studies from a World Health Organization-backed think tank. The report, released by the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, analysed 97 studies at the intersection of health, democracy and populism.
In Aotearoa, New Zealand…
https://shorturl.at/iYnAB
https://grist.org/transportation/barcelona-is-turning-subway-trains-into-power-stations/
First Nations health news
Extract from statement by NSW Minister David Harris
The NSW Government has appointed three commissioners to lead a 12-month treaty consultation process with Aboriginal people and communities across NSW. This will include asking whether Aboriginal communities want an agreement-making process with government, and if so, what form that process could take.
NSW is home to the largest Aboriginal population in Australia. The commissioners will engage with Aboriginal communities across metropolitan, rural, regional and remote parts of NSW, before delivering a report on their findings to the Government.
The Government has appointed former senator Aden Ridgeway, academic Todd Fernando and Koori Mail newspaper editor Naomi Moran to the roles. The commissioners have been appointed for a fixed term of two years following an open, competitive process led by an independent Aboriginal advisory panel.
Consultation about agreement making aligns directly with NSW’s bipartisan commitment to the 2020 Closing the Gap National Agreement signed by then prime minister Scott Morrison and then premier Gladys Berejiklian.
The Closing the Gap Agreement includes a commitment to formal partnerships and shared decision-making with Aboriginal people to help close the gap faster in areas such as life expectancy, health and education. Over coming months, the commissioners will develop a detailed consultation plan, with consultations to commence in 2025.
#AusPol
A Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) statement today congratulated the South Australian Government for enacting legislation that creates the new agency, Preventive Health SA.
The Preventive Health SA Bill 2024 will ensure ongoing investment and commitments to public health and health promotion across the state.
“This is a great day for the many people who’ve worked tirelessly for a long time on preventive health efforts across our state,” said South Australia-based PHAA President, Professor Caroline Miller.
“We commend Health and Wellbeing Minister, Chris Picton for his leadership and commitment to preventive health. We congratulate his office, and the team at Preventive Health SA for making this legislation happen.
“We also thank the members of the SA Public Health Consortium – comprising PHAA SA Branch, South Australian Council of Social Service, and Australian Health Promotion Association SA Branch – whose 2022 election platform featured preventive health as a pillar.
“It was during our consortium’s public health debate that Mr Picton, then in opposition, pledged that if his party won office, it would take prevention seriously by creating a dedicated agency.”
As Minister, Mr Picton created the Preventive Health Establishment Advisory Council, chaired by former Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon.
PHAA South Australia Branch President, Dr Mary Brushe, said a new agency focussed on preventive health will help ease the pressure on the state’s stretched hospitals and ambulance systems. “Keeping people healthy and well means they’re less likely to need hospitals or call an ambulance, because around half of all chronic diseases are preventable,” Dr Brushe said.
Public health
https://theconversation.com/in-the-rare-event-of-a-vaccine-injury-australians-should-be-compensated-232396 
https://insightplus.mja.com.au/2024/37/mpox-on-the-rise/
https://johnmenadue.com/given-the-choice-would-my-wife-have-chosen-to-let-dementia-take-its-course/
CIDRAP: Study sheds new light on severe COVID’s long-term brain impacts
Conference Watch
#CroakeyREAD
Media matters
So much for Australian exceptionalism…
Awards
Events upcoming
