CRANAplus President Update

Dear CRANAplus Members,

We are all catching our breath from a fantastic conference in Alice Springs last week. Thanks must go to our dynamic CEO Carole, and all of the CRANAplus staff who worked tirelessly, the sponsors and presenters who made it possible and the participants (who according to the evaluations had a great time). Special mention must go to Sue Kruskie who agreed to be our MC, she did a wonderful job of keeping us on track, prompting useful discussions and entertaining the crowd!

The Hon Minister Warren Snowdon was in attendance on two occasions through out the conference and gave all at the conference an invitation to participate in the “Community Consultation” regarding the Health and Hospitals reform commission report. CRANAplus and The Centre for Remote Health celebrated the 10th birthday of the Remote Health Practice program, and also launched the 2nd edition of the CRANAplus Clinical Procedures Manual… yes its finally arrived, so please contact the CRANAplus office to order your book!

Congratulations must go to Robyn White who won the CRANAplus Aurora award, acknowledging her as the remote health professional of the year. A well deserved winner from a very strong field of nominees.

The October 2010 conference is going to be in Broome WA, we plan to have all of the details of the conference on the website before the end of this year to allow you to plan in advance. The 2011 conference will be in Adelaide, followed by Alice Springs again 2012.

Hope to see many of you in Broome next October.

Cheers,
Christopher
 

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Cindy Porter is doing a systematic review for a PhD looking at antenatal care for Aboriginal women with diabetes in pregnancy.

"We are trying to establish the best way to provide support to pregnant Australian Aboriginal and Australian Torres Islander women who have diabetes. As part of this we are trying to find out about the work people have done in this area, that has not been published in a journal somewhere. So if a student project or thesis, unpublished data or reports, conference papers, posters, evaluations, or audits involving pregnant aboriginal women with diabetes, we want to hear about it."

Terms:

• Australian Aboriginal or Indigenous women
• Antenatal care
• Diabetes in pregnancy Birth outcomes for diabetes in pregnancy
• Pregnancy complications

Please contact Cindy Porter : cindyp@cucrh.uwa.edu.au
Combined Universities Centre for Rural Health
University of Western Australia

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Conferences

Consumer-Centred Health Care: Policy, Innovation and Empowerment
Melbourne 22nd - 23rd March 2010
Angliss Conference Centre
This national conference over two days will explore the emerging agenda of consumer-centred health care.
It is an event not to be missed for anyone with a passion for reforming our health system so that patients and their families are at the centre of the system.
 

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Articles of Interest

Health Guidelines for Early Childhood Settings
The Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon and Minister for Early Childhood Education, Kate Ellis, today launched new Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Guidelines for early childhood Settings, developed with the assistance of a consortium led by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

A dose of commonsense won't hurt: vaccination
"I understand the media loves controversy, but as a GP in a region with one of the lowest vaccination rates in Australia I am sick of having local kids injured or killed by illnesses that could have been prevented.
It is time to stop giving media attention (otherwise known as free advertising) to the crackpot claims of the anti-vaccination lobby. Unfortunately, through the years the group in question has found little trouble finding journalists willing to give it a platform.
The arguments this group presents, with fancy websites and titled authors, do not stand up to even the most rudimentary investigative journalism. Arguing vaccines are not effective, they have been using the same graphs for more than 20 years."
Sue Page is a GP in northern NSW and vaccination spokeswoman for the Northern Rivers GP Network.

Australia’s First Preventative Health Agency
Australia’s first ever Preventive Health Agency will soon be established following the passage of important legislation in the House of Representatives today. The Agency is a key part of the Rudd Government’s decision to invest more in preventative health measures than any other government in Australia’s history.

Are You Interested in the Future of the Oral Health Workforce?
The Community Services and Health Industry Skills Council (CS&H ISC), the national body representing skills development needs for the CS&H industries, has been funded by the Department of Employment, Education and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) for a project to develop new national competency for oral health. As part of the first stage of the project, a national ‘Skilling up for Oral Health’ free forum will be held in Adelaide, 2 December 2009 to discuss the current broad themes in community oral health outcomes and workforce development.
Register for this free one day event by visiting www.cshisc.com.au

Faults in governing of grants
The administration of more than $3billion of government health and medical research grants is plagued by major shortcomings, including a lack of consistency in applying guidelines and potential conflicts of interest.
In a report into the program released yesterday, the Auditor-General recommends changes to the system of administering the grants by the National Health and Medical Research Council to improve transparency and manage conflicts.
From 2000 to 2008, the NHMRC awarded more than 8000 grants totalling more than $3.2bn. The money was used to fund research into areas including cancer treatment, childhood obesity and diabetes care for Aboriginal people.

Australia and New Zealand Melanoma Trials Group
In late 2008, the ANZMTG Clinical Trial Protocol Synopsis/Research Proposal Outline was launched. This initiative had been proposed to call for researchers to submit investigator driven trials to ANZMTG for review and support. Members are encouraged to submit their project outline to the Executive Committee for feedback and assistance in any form.To apply for membership, please visit http://www.anzmtg.org/memberapply.aspx

Rural GPs glad to bend Kevin Rudd's ear
Rural doctors have taken heart that they will not be overlooked in the looming reforms to the nation's health system, after Kevin Rudd extended a scheduled meeting at a country practice to hear concerns about the sector's problems.
The Prime Minister was due to spend 15 minutes in a private meeting with doctors from the Bridge Clinic in Murray Bridge, southeast of Adelaide, on Wednesday but the talks ended up lasting nearly an hour, and finished with doctors hopeful of obtaining some key concessions.
Peter Rischbieth, one of the 13 general practitioner partners who run the clinic and a former president of peak medical rural lobby the Rural Doctors Association of Australia, says these include the issue of taxation of government grant money, better support for overseas-trained doctors and the opportunity to enlist rural GPs to deliver the government's commitment to improving preventive health.

North Queensland Community Gets Native Title
The far northwest Aboriginal community of the Kowanyama People has been recognised with a Native Title determination, which they say will allow them a future of true self-governance.
Justice Greenwood of the Federal Court today will recognise the Kowanyama People - who are located in the Cape York Peninsula 460km northwest of Cairns - with exclusive native title rights over 2518 square kilometres of land.
The Kowanyama people will also be recognised with non-exclusive rights over 213sq km of sea, beach and tidal areas.

Arnhem Land leader dies
The most distinguished indigenous leader, artist and traditional knowledge-holder of West Arnhem Land, Lofty Bardayal Nadjamerrek, has died, aged 83, at his remote outstation of Kabulwarnamyo.
At once a prominent land manager and widely collected bark painter, in youth a tin miner and in age a constant informant for generations of anthropologists, he was a man with many aspects.
He was the last artist to paint traditional images on the rock shelter walls of his stone country, and one of the last speakers of several regional languages.
He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for his contributions to land management and the arts, but the measure of the man is in the richness of his life.

Jimmy Little doing a lot to tackle kidney disease
Diabetes and kidney failure may have weakened Jimmy Little but they have failed to sap the legendary singer's will to prevent others suffering the same fate.
The 72-year-old ARIA Hall of Fame member and national living treasure will next week embark on a tour of the Northern Territory to promote healthy eating in indigenous communities.
As he reaches the twilight of his career, Little, who shot to fame with his 1963 hit Royal Telephone, said music was a potent force for educating future generations about a disease that is ravaging remote communities.

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