This week we bring news from Europe on air quality standards and other good news about the benefits of exercise therapy, the impact of climate activism, and health service delivery.
We also report on deep disappointment at the Victorian Government’s decision to abandon plans for a second medically supervised injecting room in Naarm/Melbourne.
The Media Matters section features a new guide that supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to talk publicly about suicide in a way that is safe, and provides some advice on interactions with the media.
The quotable?
Standing up for our planet isn’t a crime – it’s a duty.”
On climate health, some steps forward and back
A new International Labour Organization (ILO) report warns that more than 70 percent of the global workforce are likely to be exposed to climate-related health hazards, and existing occupational safety and health protections are struggling to keep up with the associated risks.
The report, Ensuring safety and health at work in a changing climate, estimates that more than 2.4 billion workers (out of a global workforce of 3.4 billion) are likely to be exposed to excessive heat at some point during their work. Watch this video for an overview.
Aso check out the National Commission on Climate and Workforce Health in the US, which comprises leaders from business, science, medicine and health policy
Meanwhile, a UK regulator’s decision to suspend for five months the medical registration of a climate activist has caused widespread consternation.
The General Medical Council stressed that its decision was not about Dr Sarah Benn’s right to protest or take part in peaceful protests but as a result of her breaching a court order on a number of occasions.
“Our fitness to practise investigations consider cases which are referred to us and where doctors have broken the law, not their motivations for doing so. It is not the role of regulators to determine UK law – that is a matter for parliament,” said a GMC statement.
The GMC then apparently felt obliged to note its own sustainability credentials, stating:
“For the first time we have included a new sustainability commitment in our recently-updated professional standards for all UK doctors – Good medical practice. This now has a specific duty that all doctors should choose sustainable solutions. We have also set our own ambitions to become a net zero organisation by 2040.”
Meanwhile environmental defenders have had a win in Western Australia, where fossil fuel companies are accustomed to getting their way. Listen to the protest song disrupting Woodside Energy’s meeting.
Avian influenza
The World Health Organization has called for a strengthening of global detection networks for the H5N1 bird flu virus which infected a large number of animal species. Read more at Flutracker.
StatNews: USDA orders H5N1 testing of some dairy cows to limit spread of bird flu
The US Department of Agriculture moved to try to limit spread of the H5N1 bird flu virus among dairy cattle on Wednesday, issuing a federal order that will require an animal to test negative for the virus before it can be moved across state lines. It also requires laboratories and state veterinarians to report to the USDA any animals that have tested positive for H5N1 or any other influenza A virus.
Other global health news
PLOS Global Health: Decolonising global health research: Shifting power for transformative change
“This paper applies three intersecting dimensions of colonialism (colonialism within global health; colonisation of global health; and colonialism through global health) to develop a broader and more structural understanding of the policies and actions needed to decolonise global health research.
It argues that existing guidelines and checklists designed to make global health research more equitable do not adequately address the underlying power asymmetries and biases that prevail across the global health research ecosystem.
Beyond encouraging fairer partnerships within individual research projects, this paper calls for more emphasis on shifting the balance of decision-making power, redistributing resources, and holding research funders and other power-holders accountable to the places and peoples involved in and impacted by global health research.”
Public health
The Lancet Psychiatry: Heat and hospital admission via the emergency department for people with intellectual disability, autism, and mental disorders in South Korea: a nationwide, time-stratified, case-crossover study
The researchers said: People with intellectual disability, autism, and mental disorders should be included in groups considered at a high-risk for heat exposure, and heat adaptation policies should be implemented with consideration of these groups and their needs.
The Lancet Psychiatry: A transdiagnostic group exercise intervention for mental health outpatients in Germany (ImPuls): results of a pragmatic, multisite, block-randomised, phase 3 controlled trial
The findings suggest that exercise therapy should be implemented in outpatient mental health care as an adjunctive transdiagnostic treatment for mental disorders such as depression, insomnia, panic disorder, agoraphobia, and PTSD.
American Journal of Infection Control: Evidence from whole genome sequencing of aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2 almost 5 hours after hospital room turnover
The researchers reported: Whole genome sequencing during an outbreak suggested in-room transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to two patients admitted nearly 2 and 5 hours, respectively, after discharge of an asymptomatic infected patient. These findings suggest that airborne SARS-CoV-2 may transmit infection for over 4 hours, even in a hospital setting.
The case for free phone calls in prison
The Conversation: Our housing system is broken and the poorest Australians are being hardest hit
The article says that if you rely on the Youth Allowance, there is not a single rental property across Australia you can afford this week.
“Overall, housing affordability solutions have to be multi-faceted. The housing system is badly broken and meaningful repair cannot be achieved unless policymakers are willing to confront both supply and demand challenges.”
Victorian Government warned its decision will cost lives
Not opening a second supervised injecting room fails Victoria’s most vulnerable people
The Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) and The Balit Durn Durn Centre are deeply disappointed by the Victorian Government’s decision to abandon the establishment of a second medically supervised injecting room in Melbourne.
By opting against building a second facility in the Melbourne CBD, the Government is denying potentially life-saving care to the most vulnerable members of the Victorian community.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities in Victoria are disproportionately impacted by fatal overdoses when compared to non-Indigenous Victorians.
The ‘Fatal overdose among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people Victoria 2018-2021 report’ (2023) states that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experience fatal overdoses at a rate more than three times higher than non-Indigenous people.
Executive Director of VACCHO’s Balit Durn Durn Centre Sheree Lowe says that medically supervised safe injection rooms save lives.
A statement by the Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association (VAADA) welcomed aspects of the announcement of a Statewide Action Plan to reduce drug harms, including the development of an alcohol and other drug (AOD) strategy for Victoria along with new health services for the City of Melbourne.
“However, we share the disappointment of many in the community that the Victorian Government will not be proceeding with a 2nd medically supervised injecting facility in the CBD.”
Healthcare news
Lest we forget
Media matters
A First Nations guide for truth-telling about suicide
This guide supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to talk publicly about suicide in a way that is safe for you, your family and others in the community.
Human Rights Watch: Indian Authorities Stop Australian Journalist from Covering Elections
