Editorial
Welcome to the June/July 2009 edition of the HealthInsite e-newsletter, and a special welcome to any new subscribers!
After consultation with State and Territory governments, the Commonwealth Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon, announced in June that Australia has developed a new response phase, called PROTECT, to manage the outbreak of swine flu. We'll have a look at what this means, and provide you with the latest information on the number of Australians affected by this disease.
The Commonwealth Government also launched a national campaign to reduce the rate of sexually transmitted infections in June, and the theme is "STIs are spreading fast - always use a condom!"
And Stress Down Day on Friday, 25 July is an opportunity to support the important work of Lifeline in one of its major fund-raising activities for the year - the slippers look great!
Finally, we will highlight the activities and developments for a number of HealthInsite's Information Partners, including Kidney Health Australia's Wee Week (19 - 25 July), Reach Out's renovated and redeveloped website, and a new education program from the National Prescribing Service.
News Items
Swine flu update
On the basis of advice from Australia's Chief Medical Officer, Professor Jim Bishop, and the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, Minister Roxon announced the commencement of a PROTECT response phase on 17 June 2009.
The PROTECT phase reflects the recognition that the swine flu infection is not as severe as was envisaged when the Australian Health Management Plan for Pandemic Influenza was prepared in 2008, and that this disease is mild in most cases, severe in some, but moderate overall. PROTECT sits along CONTAIN and SUSTAIN phases, with a greater focus on treating and caring for those people that might have severe cases. The Department of Health and Ageing has a useful web page on pandemic phases.
The Department also has some useful tips for protecting yourself and others.
On 20 July, Australian had 13,178 confirmed cases of swine flu (or Pandemic (H1N1) 2009). The total number of Australian deaths associated with swine flu to date is 32: 14 in Victoria, 10 in NSW, 3 in the Northern Territory, 2 in South Australia, and 1 in Queensland, Tasmania, and Western Australia.
There are currently 224 people throughout Australia hospitalised because of swine flu, and 95 of these people are in intensive care units.
HealthInsite has a topic page on swine flu (also known as swine influenza, the Influenza A (H1N1 Virus), and Pandemic (H1N1) 2009). For other useful information about swine flu, please refer to our May newsletter.
Condoms help prevent STIs
The Commonwealth Government has launched a national campaign to reduce the rate of sexually transmitted infections, with a particular focus on young people and Indigenous people.
The campaign theme is: "STIs are spreading fast - always use a condom". People having unprotected sex are encouraged to see a doctor about getting tested. Early detection and treatment are important. If left untreated, STIs can have serious and lasting health implications.
The media release Campaign Targets Sexually Transmitted Infections provides some current statistical information. The website for the campaign is www.sti.health.gov.au.
HealthInsite has topic pages on Sexual Health, Safe Sex, and Sexually Transmitted Infections.
Stress Down Day
Today, somewhere in Australia, there is a new call to Lifeline every minute, and an average of 450,000 calls are answered each year. Lifeline's services now operate from over 60 locations nationally, and have a presence in every State and Territory in metropolitan and regional areas.
The Lifeline National Service Finder can provide you with details of some 20,000 services and service providers, and you can access these details using either keywords or your postcode.
Stress Down Day is being held on 24 July and, as the name of the day suggests, encourages all Australians to relax and think about how they can manage their stress more effectively. It's also an opportunity to purchase some of the fabulous items from the Lifeline Store, or to make a donation to support Lifeline's important work.
HealthInsite has a number of topic pages on stress, including Stress, Stress and Relaxation, Stress and Sleep Disorders, Stress in Children, and Stress in Young People.
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| Your Feedback |
We recently received an e-mail from a mother whose child was sick. She wanted to make an informed decision about what she should do next, and knew that there was a 24 hour a day/seven day a week telephone service staffed by registered nurses in her state that she could call for advice.
But she couldn't remember the name of the service.
The name of the advice and information telephone service she was seeking is healthdirect Australia, and the toll-free number for its call centre network is 1 800 022 222.
The service is now operating in New South Wales, the ACT, South Australia, Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and is being rolled out in Tasmania. While the National Health Call Centre Network Ltd is developing a health information website to complement its advice and information telephone service, the current healthdirect Australia website links to HealthInsite so that it can provide access to reliable health information.
We will be adding the healthdirect Australia contact number to the HealthInsite home page and our Health Services topic page to help Australians to more easily find this service.
If there is an issue that you would like to see covered in a future newsletter, please send an e-mail to the HealthInsite team at: healthinsite.feedback@health.gov.au
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