All roads (and flights) lead to Naarm/Melbourne next week for the World Indigenous Cancer Conference 2024; follow #WICC2024 for all the news, and a Croakey Conference News Service team will be in action as well.
Our column this week also links readers into the National Women’s Health Summit, news on COVID, global health updates, the election in lutruwita/Tasmania, and recent publications on mental health policy and service delivery.
The quotable?
The report reveals that more children are surviving today than ever before, with the global under-five mortality rate declining by 51 per cent since 2000…
Yet millions of children still died before seeing their fifth birthday – a loss that serves as a crucial reminder that threats to newborn and child health and survival persist around the world, particularly among the most marginalised children.”
Conference watch
The National Women’s Health Summit in Canberra is certain to make a media splash, and bring wider awareness to the various forms of discrimination experienced by women in healthcare systems. We will cover related issues more in coming days, and you can check #WHS24 for more news.
For other conference news, check #PreventiveMentalHealth2024.
First Nations health updates
Research letter in The Medical Journal of Australia: Presentations to selected Melbourne hospitals with cardiovascular disease by Indigenous and non‐Indigenous people, 2011–19: a linked administrative data analysis
The authors reported: “The median age of people who presented to hospital with CVD events was eleven years lower for Indigenous than non‐Indigenous people, and a larger proportion (more than half) lived in areas of lower socio‐economic status. These findings indicate the importance of taking social health determinants into account when attempting to reduce the CVD burden for Indigenous people in Victoria. Our findings will inform the development of culturally appropriate CVD prevention and treatment programs in collaboration with Victorian Indigenous communities.”
Global health
From UNICEF: This year’s United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation findings represent a noteworthy moment in the ongoing campaign to end all preventable child deaths: The annual number of under-five deaths has fallen to 4.9 (4.6–5.4) million in 2022. The report reveals that more children are surviving today than ever before, with the global under-5 mortality rate declining by 51 per cent since 2000. And several low- and lower-middle-income countries have outpaced this decline. This is a testament to the commitment of governments, organisations, local communities, health-care professionals and families to the survival of the most vulnerable members of our global community.
Yet millions of children still died before seeing their fifth birthday – a loss that serves as a crucial reminder that threats to newborn and child health and survival persist around the world, particularly among the most marginalised children. In addition to the 4.9 million lives lost before the age of 5 – nearly half of which were newborns – the lives of another 2.1 million children and youth aged 5-24 were also cut short. Most of these deaths were concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia. There is still a long road ahead to end all preventable child and youth deaths.
See: Minimum unit pricing for alcohol saves lives, so why is it not implemented more widely?
COVID
See: The authors conclude: “COVID-19 vaccination reduced the risk of post-COVID-19 cardiac and thromboembolic outcomes. These effects were more pronounced for acute COVID-19 outcomes, consistent with known reductions in disease severity following breakthrough versus unvaccinated SARS-CoV-2 infection.”
The Lancet: Global age-sex-specific mortality, life expectancy, and population estimates in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1950–2021, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: a comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021
Time: The Isolation of Having Long COVID as Society Moves On
“As of January 2024, 17 percent of American adults have reported experiencing symptoms of Long COVID according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics – up from an estimated 14 percent in fall of 2023. Almost three percent, or 7 million, US adults are immunocompromised in some way – and some people who are immunocompromised don’t get sufficient protection from COVID-19 vaccines, according to research from Johns Hopkins. Data from a 2022 Brookings study estimated that Long COVID was keeping an estimated four million Americans out of work.”
Public health
Healthcare and policy
The Medical Journal of Australia: Australia’s mental health commissions: evaluating a natural experiment
MJA Insight: Reducing seclusion and restraint in Australian mental health services
A project to tackle seclusion and restraint in one Local Health District in New South Wales not only reduced these practices, but improved leadership and collaboration in the mental health units.
This guide, ‘Organisational Strategies to Support the Mental Health and Wellbeing of Healthcare Workers During Crises,’ is designed to future-proof our healthcare workforce against the mental health challenges posed by crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides actionable strategies for healthcare organisations, aiming to create a supportive and resilient work environment.
Key recommendations include:
- Cultivating a supportive workplace culture: The guide underscores the importance of fostering a workplace culture that prioritises mental health. This involves promoting empathy, respect, and kindness, actively addressing bullying and discrimination, and destigmatising mental illness.
- Visible and authentic leadership: Training for leaders and managers in supporting staff mental health and wellbeing is crucial. Leaders are encouraged to be approachable, responsive, and visible, especially during crises.
- Prioritising safety and communication: Ensuring a safe working environment and clear, concise communication are fundamental. This includes protecting physical safety through appropriate resources and training and establishing psychological safety as a core value.
- Valuing and recognising healthcare workers: The guide calls for actions that acknowledge the contributions of all healthcare workers. This includes meeting basic needs, recognising efforts, and facilitating teamwork and connection.
- Flexible work conditions and crisis preparation: Organisations are urged to prepare for crises before they occur and to recognise and accommodate the disruptions caused by role changes. Flexible work conditions are highlighted as essential for maintaining work-life balance during challenging times.
#AusPol
Departures and arrivals
Adjunct Professor Janine Mohamed has stepped down as CEO of the Lowitja Institute, effective 8 March, and Deputy CEO Paul Stewart has been appointed interim CEO. Mohamed is 2024 Victorian Australian of the Year, acknowledging her longstanding work in highlighting racism in the health system and advocating for cultural safety. Read more here.
The Climate and Health Alliance has announced their new CEO, Michelle Isles, who will start in the job on Monday, 18 March.
Working at the nexus of climate action, health and wellbeing in a career spanning 20 years across the Asia-Pacific region, Isles has coached health organisations, advised health boards on climate risk and led innovation within health and other essential service organisations. She served on the Board of CAHA throughout 2023.
Opportunities
Media matters
There’s been a lot of appreciation for Dr Norman Swan’s investigation of toddler milks.
Upcoming events
