Our first ICYMI column for 2025 links readers into new publications on obesity, harmful marketing and an open access book on decolonising legal education, as well as a stack of global health updates.
We also bring details about events on reducing medication costs and reproductive rights, as well as an upcoming webinar with First Nations justice advocates who have lived experience of prison systems.
The quotable?
In sum, the fossil fuel industry continues to market products that are contributing to climate catastrophe while concealing its role in resisting the changes that are needed.”
In the spotlight
The use of Body Mass Index (BMI) measures can both underestimate and overestimate adiposity, according to a report published this week by The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology Commission.
BMI measures provide inadequate information about health at the individual level, which undermines medically-sound approaches to health care and policy, the Commission reported.
A group of 58 experts, including people with lived experience of obesity, the Commission sought to establish objective criteria for disease diagnosis, aiding clinical decision making and prioritisation of therapeutic interventions and public health strategies.
BMI should be used only as a surrogate measure of health risk at a population level, for epidemiological studies, or for screening purposes, rather than as an individual measure of health, they said.
Read more here, and also see these infographics.
Other global health news
An extract from the submission: “RANZCOG is deeply concerned that at a time when our social services and health system are failing to meet the needs of whānau and wāhine Māori, that resources are being invested in a conversation that is unlikely to result in change, but very likely to create stress and fracture relationships and at best do little to address the needs of our most at risk population.
“The health community has worked hard over recent years to address systems that have disadvantaged Māori and other ethnicities, and to enact the commitments of te Tiriti o Waitangi. RANZCOG has been disturbed to see doctors and health providers criticised for prioritising the needs of Māori. Equity of health for wāhine and whānau Māori requires significant focus, new approaches, and the effort of the whole health system and all who work in it.
“We are deeply disturbed by Māori being excluded from any engagement with the development of The Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill. This has been described as a clear breach of te Tiriti. The proposed principles in this Bill trample the mana of te Tiriti, discriminate against Māori, abrogate Māori rights, and extinguish tino rangatiratanga.”
The Atlantic: Bird Flu Is a National Embarrassment. America should have more aggressively intervened almost a year ago.
This paper suggests that harmful marketing is an overlooked social determinant of health, and proposes adopting a public health framework for regulating marketing practices that endanger significant portions of the population.
“In the same way that our public health system monitors deaths due to chronic and infectious illness and injuries, we need a system that provides annual data on deaths attributable to marketing,” the authors say.
They examine the impact of marketing on health in the United States across six industries: tobacco, alcohol, pharmaceuticals/opioids, processed food, firearms, and fossil fuels.
“These industries not only promote harmful products but also obscure their negative health impacts to avoid regulatory scrutiny.”
For example, the fossil fuels industry has:
- promoted doubt about the scientific evidence that climate change is happening and is human caused
- funded and created organisations, such as the “Advancement of Sound Science Coalition” to spread misinformation, for example by distributing misleading educational materials to schools.
- another fossil fuel lobbying group, the Western States Petroleum Association, has created numerous other organizations to oppose policies aimed at reducing carbon emissions, such as opposition to carbon taxes.
“In sum, the fossil fuel industry continues to market products that are contributing to climate catastrophe while concealing its role in resisting the changes that are needed.”
Health Policy Watch: The ‘Soft Power’ of Public Health; Global Coalition of Deans Etches A Way Forward
First Nations news
Legal Education Through an Indigenous Lens: Decolonising the Law School (open access)
Adjunct Professor Muriel Bamblett AO, Chairperson of SNAICC, said the peak body welcomes Acting Commissioner Gordon in her interim role while the appointment of the ongoing National Commissioner is finalised.
“The commencement of the Commission is a pivotal step in realising a voice and facilitator for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families, ensuring their safety and protection,” Ms Bamblett said.
“Our children’s rights to be connected to culture, community, family and Country are central to their identify, wellbeing and positive life outcomes. This Commissioner will play an essential role to make sure our children’s rights to culture are respected and protected.”
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are significantly over-represented in out-of-home care and youth detention compared to non-Indigenous children, and trends are increasing.
“Our sector, communities and families are sick of seeing our children enter the out-of-home care and juvenile justice systems. The Commissioner is a vital tool to reverse increasing trends for our children by holding government to account,” Ms Bamblett said.
“To ensure this accountability role for our children’s rights is in place, it is critical the ongoing role of a National Commissioner is appointed by Government as soon as possible.
“We commend the Government on their commitment to progress legislation that will give the National Commissioner the powers, independence and authority that the role requires. We encourage the Government to progress this legislation as soon as possible.”
Public health updates
#AusPol
Media matters
Upcoming events and conferences
