Australian Medical Association

The nutritional content of many commercial products for babies and toddlers is woefully inadequate. We have been calling for action on this for many years. This is a big win for public health and the future of Australian children.

Winter is coming, and so is flu season. We're seeing a concerning downward trend in vaccination rates that we simply can't afford to continue. Thousands die each year from respiratory diseases including flu, COVID-19 and RSV. The time to act is now — speak to your GP about getting your COVID and flu vaccines ahead of what could be a particularly challenging winter. https://lnkd.in/gSeW7cYr

A tax on sugary drinks is an obvious measure to help curb the nation's escalating obesity crisis. Without a sugar tax, obesity and other chronic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes will continue to cost the health system billions of dollars each year. We were disappointed to see the federal government missed yet another opportunity to implement a sugar tax in this week's budget, despite the recommendations of a parliamentary inquiry into diabetes. A sugar tax is proven to be effective in many countries around the world. It's time for Australia to catch up. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gFkCTCQe Join the AMA: https://lnkd.in/gpVyhi-k

AMA President Dr Danielle McMullen has welcomed the investment in health in tonight's budget, but has warned significant reforms to the health system are needed to keep the system from falling further into crisis.   🤕 The $8.5bn for Medicare is a huge investment, but structural reform is needed to ensure patients with chronic and complex conditions get the care they need. The AMA is calling for a new 7-tier GP consultation item structure designed to meet the needs of today's patients.   📌 Funding for GP training places is also welcome, but we need an independent health workforce planning agency to ensure we have doctors where they are needed, to reduce the inequity in accessing healthcare in rural, remote and regional areas.   ☂️ We also need reform in private health, namely an independent private health system authority, to make sure private health delivers for patients and doctors.   🏥 Our public hospitals remain in a state of logjam, and until federal and state governments sort out their funding arrangements and reach a new National Health Reform Agreement we will continue to see long waits in EDs, ramped ambulances, and bed block.   🥤 We also need to focus on preventive health through measures like a tax on sugary drinks. A tax on sugary drinks could help lower rates of chronic disease, while generating billions of dollars that could be spent on public health.

The AMA welcomes the appointment of AMA member Professor Michael Kidd AO as Australia’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO). Professor Kidd is a globally respected medical leader, GP, researcher, and educator. He was Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Principal Medical Advisor in the Department of Health during the COVID-19 pandemic and World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) President from 2013-16.

Australia is facing an obesity crisis that has now overtaken tobacco as our leading cause of preventable death.    The evidence is clear: sugar taxes reduce consumption and save lives. Yet Australia continues to lag behind while our obesity rates climb.   The time for action is now. Obesity will cost our health system $38 billion over the next four years if we don't act.

From the medical frontline, we're witnessing the surgical logjam reaching crisis point.    Patients are deteriorating while caught in this logjam, waiting months beyond clinically recommended timeframes for essential treatment.   Clearing the logjam requires officials to address the core issue: adequate funding for essential surgical procedures.

This National Close the Gap day, AIDA underlines our commitment for equitable, just health and life outcomes for all our people. We encourage you to participate in the first independent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led review of Closing the Gap. The survey will capture the perspectives and experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people which will help ensure accountability of governments to follow through on the commitments of Closing the Gap. 🗣️ Have your say by 16th April – for more information, including who can participate, click here: https://lnkd.in/gfFffzvn

The AMA welcomes the government’s commitment to increase transparency on consumer out-of-pocket costs for private healthcare by announcing a planned upgrade to the Medical Costs Finder website. Crucially, this commitment involves placing a stronger obligation on private health insurers to reveal data showing how much they contribute to the cost of care and how often patients pay out-of-pocket costs for services that are not fully covered by their insurance policy. Just three insurers so far have elected to upload their data on the Medical Costs Finder website. It is our hope that Labor’s planned upgrades will put an end to private health insurers obfuscating their rebates by burying the detail deep within their website. This information should be plainly available to all, as patients deserve to know which insurers provide the best value for their required procedure. The lack of transparency on rebates is likely contributing to the poor indexation of rebates from insurers.    As the AMA’s latest private health insurance report card shows, net profits for insurers increased by almost 50 per cent in the five years to June 2024, while the patient rebate for medical services increased by just over 10 per cent in that time. We will work closely with any government on upgrades to the Medical Costs Finder website to ensure all information is available, and the existing technical challenges practitioners have experienced trying to use the website are addressed. Media release: https://lnkd.in/gevx7iU7 Private health insurance report card: https://lnkd.in/dzNiFi8P AMA Guide to Informed Financial Consent: https://lnkd.in/gcYknEq4 Danielle McMullen Julian Rait