Environmental health

Public health posters about flu transmission prevention need to reflect current best practice: cough or sneeze into your sleeve rather than your hands if tissues are not available.

Guy D Eslick

A cohort comparison of colorectal cancer patient data from the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program register and the South Australian Cancer Registry found that cancers were diagnosed at a significantly earlier stage in people invited to the screening program compared with those who were not invited. A further shift towards earlier stage was seen in those who participated in screening and those with positive test results compared with the rest of the study population.

Stephen R Cole BSc, MPH · Graeme R Tucker BSc · Joanne M Osborne MPH · Susan E Byrne BN · Peter A Bampton MD, FRACP, AGAF · Robert J L Fraser MB BS, FRACP, PhD · Graeme P Young MD, FRACP, FTSE

Public reporting of hospital performance is welcome, but we need to understand the limitations of the data and report the most meaningful outcomes.

Leon J Worth MB BS, FRACP, PhD · Ann L Bull PhD · Michael J Richards MB BS, FRACP, MD

Today, sex-based inequalities and inequities shape how individuals are disproportionately exposed to adverse determinants of health. Our sex can determine how well or ill we become, and if or how our health care needs are acknowledged and met.1 The underlying reasons for this disparity are complex and diverse, shaped by how sex and sexual customs interact within varying political and social contexts. Discriminatory values, norms ...

Izzeldin M M Abuelaish MD, MPH

Clinical registries are at a crossroads. Will we continue the current patchwork approach or will we make the changes that are needed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of data collection and drive the quality of care?

Sue M Evans MClinEpi, PhD · Bebe Loff BA LLB, MA(MedLaw · Peter A Cameron MB BS, MD

Information on refugee background and country of birth provides important pointers to possible health needs.

Melanie E Gibson-Helm · Andrew A Block · Helena J Teede

CorrectionSIncorrect text: In “Australia’s dietary guidelines and the environmental impact of food ‘from paddock to plate’” published in the 21 January 2013 issue of the Journal (Med J Aust 2013; 198: 18-19), there was an error in the third paragraph of the article. The statement “Around half of Australia’s fisheries are overfished” is incorrect. It should read “Forty per cent of Australia’s managed fish stocks have been ...

Linda A Selvey MB BS(Hons), PhD, FAFPHM · Marion G Carey MB BS(Hons), MPH, FAFPHM

Deaths from hypothermia are not limited to colder climates or to the winter months. Older people who live alone without adequate heating are especially vulnerable.

Fiona Bright · Calle Winskog · Roger W Byard

Good working relationships with journalists are needed during public health crises but many journalists believe that health departments could do a better job of meeting their information needs, both in content and timeliness.

Melissa A Sweet BA, MA · Kate E Holland PhD · R Warwick Blood PhD

Some facilities in the United States have enforced a mandatory influenza vaccination policy with punitive action for noncompliance, resulting in sustained vaccination rates of above 97%.

Vivian K Y Leung · Susan E Harper · Monica A Slavin

Data collected before and after the H1N1 2009 influenza pandemic indicate significant shifts in public threat perception and anticipated response to a future pandemic. The H1N1 2009 pandemic has altered public perceptions of the probability of a pandemic in the future, but has left the public feeling less vulnerable.

Melanie R Taylor BSc(Hons), PhD, CPsychol · Garry J Stevens BSc(Hons), MClinPsych · Kingsley E Agho MSc, MPH, PhD · Sheree A Kable BMed, PhD · Beverley Raphael MB BS, MD, FRANZCP

Non-melanoma skin cancer treatments increased by 86% between 1997 and 2010. The authors anticipate that the number and the total cost without inflation of non-melanoma skin cancer treatments will increase by a further 22% between 2010 and 2015.

Marloes Fransen MB BS · Amalia Karahalios BSc, MPH · Niyati Sharma MB BS · Dallas R English BSc, MSc, PhD · Graham G Giles BSc, MSc, PhD · Rodney D Sinclair MB BS, MD, FACD

To the Editor: On 5 June 2012, the forum “Eliminating childhood lead toxicity in Australia — a little is still too much” was held at Macquarie University to examine new evidence on the toxicity of lead and its implications for Australian children and communities. Presently, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) recommends an increasingly obsolete intervention level that was established in 1993: blood lead levels ...

Mark P Taylor · Chris Winder · Bruce P Lanphear

We support the recommendation of Runciman and colleagues for national agreement on clinical standards of health care, and highlight the importance of including routine health promotion activities as a core part of quality care in clinical practice. The indicators used by Runciman et al fail to consider core aspects of preventive care, such as screening and evidence-based behavioural interventions for lifestyle risk ...

Annemarie Wright · Bruce Bolam

To the Editor: In June 2007 we highlighted the inconsistent application of community-accepted harm minimisation strategies, when offered to prisoners, among the various Australian jurisdictions.1 We sought information from the eight prisoner health services to assess how harm minimisation strategies were being implemented in each jurisdiction (Box). Progress has been slow, particularly in Queensland and the Northern Territory. The positive progress, however, has been the trial of condom ...

Michael H Levy · Carla Treloar

The recent High Court decision that dismissed the tobacco industry’s case against tobacco plain packaging has rightly been hailed as a landmark victory for the federal government and public health against a lethal industry. The Attorney-General (and former Health Minister), Nicola Roxon, deserves the highest praise for her leadership and determination to reduce Australia’s tobacco-related death toll, as do the politicians of ...

Mike M Daube · Simon Chapman

To the Editor: The frequency and intensity of floods and other weather-related disasters is likely to increase with climate change. These disasters may affect both the physical and mental health of people who are directly affected. The extensive rainfall and subsequent flooding experienced throughout Queensland in December 2010 and January 2011 had significant impacts on large sections of the population. To assess the health impacts of the ...

Lyle R Turner · Katarzyna Alderman · Shilu Tong

As doctors, we spend a lot of time learning facts but little time is formally dedicated to learning how to think. Ideally, this skill is learnt (“picked up”) during the years of clinical teaching at the bedside, in the clinic and in the operating theatre. Errors in clinical interpretation and reasoning can occur at any point during patient care. These are often due not to ...

Annette Katelaris MB BS, MPH, FRACGP

Nathan Grills examines unhealthy alliances that highlight corporate social irresponsibilityIndustry sponsorship of charitable causes is increasingly promoted and practised across the corporate sector in Australia and overseas. But should such “corporate social responsibility” be limited in certain circumstances? Apart from tobacco companies, there are currently very few restrictions on which industries are allowed to support which charities. But there is a need to consider whether ...

Nathan J Grills MB BS, DPhil, MPH

To the Editor: George,1 who has received a research grant from Pfizer on smoking cessation, makes the manifestly incorrect statement that “there is no evidence for the effectiveness of cold turkey cessation, especially in moderate to heavy smokers”. In fact, it has always been the case that the most common method used by ex-smokers in their final successful attempt to quit is cold turkey.2 Those promoting ...

Simon Chapman