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Women's health

General medicine Guideline summary 3 June 2024 Open Access

A summary of the 2023 Society of Obstetric Medicine of Australia and New Zealand (SOMANZ) hypertension in pregnancy guideline

The 2023 SOMANZ guideline presents significant updates on evidence-based recommendations for screening, prevention and management of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy

Renuka Shanmugalingam · Helen L Barrett · Amanda Beech · Lucy Bowyer · Tim Crozier · Amanda Davidson · Marloes Dekker Nitert · Kerrie Doyle · Luke Grzeskowiak · Nicole Hall · Hicham Ibrahim Cheikh Hassan · Annemarie Hennessy · Amanda Henry · David Langsford · Vincent WS Lee · Zachary Munn · Michael J Peek · Joanne M Said · Helen Tanner · Rachel Taylor · Meredith Ward · Jason Waugh · Linda LY Yen · Ellie Medcalf · Katy JL Bell · Deonna Ackermann · Robin Turner · Angela Makris

Mja2 52312
Women's health Editor's choice 15 April 2024 Free

Leadership in women's health: not just about equity but also better health outcomes

This issue of the MJA has two pieces that reflect on medical leadership, the role of professional organisations, and the challenges that remain for women in leadership. In their perspective, Proimos and colleagues (doi: 10.5694/mja2.52244) discuss specifically the role of medical colleges and other member‐based medical organisations. This is not a problem that is unique to Australia: as the authors say, a recent report from the World Health Organization “showed women make up 70% of the global health workforce but only 25% of the leadership”. It is even worse for women from minority groups. And, as they note, although getting women into leadership is important for equity and social justice, more diversity, including having more women in leadership, also improves outcomes. So, who should take responsibility around barriers to women's leadership? As the authors argue, “The burden of addressing barriers on a woman's path to leadership should not sit with individuals but rather with changing the culture, organisations and systems where women work”. They go onto describe the Advancing Women in Healthcare Leadership (AWHL) initiative, which focuses on system‐level change. What happens next will be important in determining how the evidence‐based interventions they identified can be translated into outcomes. A second perspective in this issue by Wheeler and Govindasamy (doi: 10.5694/mja2.52242) looks at the flip side of women's leadership: that there is not just a glass ceiling for women in leadership, including medical leadership, but also a “glass cliff”. They define this concept as follows: “The glass cliff phenomenon, drawn from the glass ceiling concept, refers to the tendency for women and other minoritised people to be appointed to leadership positions in times of crisis, compared with periods of stability”. Such appointments are, as the authors say, “a poisoned chalice” since “when circumstances are bad … women and other minoritised people are often pushed forward as visible signals of change … these appointed leaders are expected to perform a miracle to turn the crisis around”. As in the previous article, the authors note that solutions must lie with organisations, not individuals. There must be “renewed focus on institutional changes that facilitate work–life integration and organisational inclusivity … [to] deliver the benefits of diverse leadership back to our health system”. First published online to coincide with International Women's Day 2024, these two articles are a stark reminder of how far we have to go. The stakes are high not just for gender equity: if we are serious about putting in place leadership that will improve health outcomes, more diverse and more female leaders are not just nice to have, they are essential.

Virginia Barbour

Infectious diseases Research 4 March 2024 Open Access

The effectiveness of maternal pertussis vaccination for protecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants against infection, 2012–2017: a retrospective cohort study

Increasing the pertussis vaccination rate requires culturally appropriate strategies co-designed with local organisations and communities

Lisa McHugh · Heather A D’Antoine · Mohinder Sarna · Michael J Binks · Hannah C Moore · Ross M Andrews · Gavin F Pereira · Christopher C Blyth · Paul Van Buynder · Karin Lust · Annette K Regan

Mja2 52220
Health services administration Study protocol 16 October 2023 Open Access

Psychosocial outcomes and health service use after notifying women participating in population breast screening when they have dense breasts: a BreastScreen Queensland randomised controlled trial

Robust evidence is needed for future mammography population screening practice and policy

Brooke Nickel · Nick Ormiston‐Smith · Lisa Hammerton · Erin Cvejic · Paul Vardon · Zoe Mcinally · Paula Legerton · Karen Baker · Jennifer Isautier · Emma Larsen · Michelle Giles · Meagan E Brennan · Kirsten J McCaffery · Nehmat Houssami

Mja2 52117
Substance‐related disorders Research 19 June 2023 Open Access

A brief intervention for improving alcohol literacy and reducing harmful alcohol use by women attending a breast screening service: a randomised controlled trial

Brief alcohol interventions in diverse clinical settings can reach groups often not recognised as being at risk of harmful drinking

Jasmin Grigg · Victoria Manning · Darren Lockie · Michelle Giles · Robin J Bell · Peta Stragalinos · Chloe Bernard · Christopher J Greenwood · Isabelle Volpe · Liam Smith · Peter Bragge · Dan I Lubman

Mja2 51991

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