Media Releases
Dysfunctional mental health system urgently needs much more than money: Ian Hickie
27 March: One of Australia’s leading authorities on mental health has challenged the sector to reform what he says is a dysfunctional system instead of just seeking additional funding to “paper over the cracks and support ineffective programs”. In an editorial in the latest edition of the Sax Institute’s journal Public Health Research & Practice, […]
Communicating health risks in a post-truth world
15 February: Public officials faced with the tough task of communicating risk on contentious issues like vaccination or fluoridation – where the actual risk is low but public concern remains high – need to show that they care, demonstrate that they are taking action and strategically engage with the media. That’s the message of a […]
Exotic mosquitoes a clear and present Zika and dengue danger for Australians
14 December: Australia may be at risk of a widespread outbreak of Zika or dengue unless more is done to prevent the establishment of exotic mosquitoes that can carry these diseases in the country, according to a paper published today in the Sax Institute’s Public Health Research & Practice journal. “While we can’t prevent people […]
New research finds restricting alcohol trading hours substantially reduces violence
30 September: Restricting alcohol trading hours can substantially reduce rates of violence and relaxing trading hours has the opposite effect, according to the first systematic review of alcohol trading hours and violence in more than five years. The review, published today in the Sax Institute’s Public Health Research & Practice journal, analyses 21 separate studies […]
Forty years of the Nurses’ Health Study: an evidence gold mine with a long-lasting legacy
15 July 2016: It started in 1976 as an investigation into the potential health consequences of oral contraceptives, but the long-running Nurses Health Study has yielded increasingly greater benefits to scientific knowledge of health and disease, according to a paper published today in the journal Public Health Research & Practice. The Perspective paper by Dr […]
Hospital emergency departments show promise in war on tobacco
15 July 2016: Hospital emergency departments could be strategically recruited into efforts to reduce smoking, which still kills 15,000 Australians every year, according to a research paper published in today’s issue of the journal Public Health Research & Practice. Melbourne researchers found that seven in every 10 smokers surveyed in two Victorian emergency departments (EDs) […]
E-cigarettes may pose passive smoking risk; action needed on continuing asbestos exposure
15 April 2016: E-cigarette vapour can contain harmful chemicals with known adverse health effects and may pose a passive smoking risk, particularly for vulnerable groups such as children and pregnant women, according to a study published today in the journal Public Health Research & Practice. Researchers from Health Protection NSW reviewed the current evidence on […]
Youth smoking rates in NSW hit an all-time low
28 January 2016: Youth smoking in NSW has dropped to its lowest rate ever, with only 6.7% of adolescents aged 12−17 years describing themselves as heavy, light or occasional smokers, a paper published today in the journal Public Health Research & Practice shows. The perspectives paper, by authors from the Cancer Institute NSW and the […]
Quarantine controls tightened after pet dog infected with Hendra virus
30 September 2015: The first NSW case of Hendra virus (HeV) infection in a pet dog has resulted in the State’s authorities introducing strict quarantine measures for all companion animals during outbreaks. The case and the measures introduced to respond to it are outlined in the latest issue of the journal Public Health Research & […]
Latest issue: New cancer statistics show smoking is still key; Australia’s top 10 health and medicine Twitter accounts
9 July 2015: Smoking is responsible for an increasing proportion of cancer deaths in NSW women and lung cancer has now overtaken breast cancer as the largest cause of female cancer death, new figures published in the journal Public Health Research & Practice show. Researchers from the Cancer Institute NSW and the World Lung Foundation […]
