Media Releases
Booming mosquito populations and biblical bat deaths: what to expect for Australia’s increasingly hot summers
Media release: 9 December 2020. Increasingly frequent extreme weather events due to climate change are throwing up some unexpected health challenges, exemplified by two papers published in a new issue of the journal Public Health Research & Practice. In one paper in the Sax Institute’s peer-reviewed journal, Dr Cameron Webb, Associate Professor of Medical Entomology […]
PHRP Awards recognise outstanding public health research that makes a difference
Media Release: 11 November 2020. An influential research paper on the “revolving door” between government and the alcohol, food and gambling industries and another on a highly successful obesity prevention program in schools have been honoured in this year’s PHRP Excellence Awards. The awards celebrate outstanding papers that have recently been published in the Sax Institute’s […]
Experts call for renewed anti-smoking push as 1.6 million Australian smokers face early death, social costs soar
Media Release: 9 September 2020. Australia risks losing its momentum on tobacco control after decades of policy successes in the area, cancer experts warn, with government investment in mass media campaigns falling to about one-fifth of the amount spent a decade ago, even as evidence on the harms of smoking has risen. The annual overall […]
Modelling shows tracking app critical to containing COVID second wave
Media release: 30 June 2020. Independent modelling published today projects a second wave of COVID-19 in Australia if social distancing and testing decline further – but new cases could be slashed by over 50% if enough people use the COVIDSafe app and remaining issues with it are resolved. While social distancing and high rates of testing remain […]
Australia should prepare for higher coronavirus death rates than in China: biosecurity expert
Media release: 10 March 2020 Australia could see higher proportional death rates from the novel coronavirus outbreak than in China, due to our relatively older population and the more severe symptoms of the virus in older people, according to a perspective penned by one of the world’s leading biosecurity experts. The warning follows the outbreak of coronavirus […]
Time to bin junk food advertising? Kids bombarded by ads on their school run
Media release: 10 March 2020 Children are exposed to up to 2800 ads for junk food every year on their way to and from school – ads which influence their food preferences and contribute to childhood obesity – according to a new study that points to public transport as one of the culprits. The authors […]
Dangers of second-hand drinking: teen drinkers at high risk of assault and sexual harassment
More than 70% of teenage girls who are risky drinkers report unwanted sexual attention from other drinkers – just one of a multitude of harms young people experience from ‘second-hand drinking’, according to new Australian research. The study in the latest issue of Public Health Research & Practice, published by the Sax Institute, sheds light […]
PHRP Awards celebrate outstanding health research with real-world impact
MEDIA RELEASE: 30 October 2019 Two research teams responsible for a rural community project that helps children with speech problems and a paper analysing the renewal of Australia’s National Cervical Screening Program have been honoured in the 2019 Public Health Research & Practice Excellence Awards. The awards celebrate outstanding papers that have been published in […]
How politicians who become lobbyists can be bad for our health
MEDIA RELEASE: 25 September 2019 The steady flow of politicians and government staffers switching sides to lobby for powerful food, alcohol and gambling companies poses a serious threat to public health, experts warn in new research published today. The study in the latest issue of Public Health Research & Practice, published by the Sax Institute, […]
Lung cancer screening an opportunity to save thousands of lives in Australia
Screening people at high risk for lung cancer – still Australia’s single biggest cancer killer – has the potential to save thousands of lives especially among former smokers, according to a new paper on the future of cancer screening in Australia. Currently, only breast, bowel and cervical cancers are the subject of national cancer screening […]
