June 2013 News

A welcome $472.7 million has been allocated to 48 Medicare Local regions in Australia to fund better-organised support for those living with severe and persistent mental illness.

This funding boost is part of the Partners in Recovery (PIR) initiative, which itself represents a "key plank" of the government's $2.2 billion package dedicated to mental health reform.

PIR is all about getting the sectors, services and support systems that those with mental illnesses rely on to work in a more collaborative way.

This week (25 to 30 June) is World Continence Week, an initiative organised by the International Continence Society and coordinated in Australia by the Continence Foundation of Australia (CFA).

It was created to raise awareness about this issue and inform both those in the workforce and the wider community of the problems it can cause.

To coincide with World Continence Week, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) released a report on 21 June that demonstrates incontinence can have a substantial impact on the health and wellbeing of those in the workforce.

Michael Moore, chief executive officer of the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA), has announced that the country needs to take the management of superbugs more seriously.

"We now have yet more evidence of the importance of establishing a National Centre for Disease Control to provide appropriate coordination of the full range of population health issues and particularly with regard to antimicrobial resistance (AMR)," Mr Moore said in a June 11 statement.

Private Healthcare Australia is requesting that Australians "take action" against the government's proposed changes to the private health insurance rebate system and medicare levy surcharge.