In this issue of Health Voices, young people with lived experience reflect on the many challenges faced by youth when trying to navigate the health system – and how things could improve for those who follow.
Health Voices Issue 23, November 2018
Youth Health Forum Call to Action
The Youth Health Forum is a network of over fifty young leaders from across the country who came together in September 2018 to discuss our perspectives on the current health system. We are not health policy experts, but experience matters. Our views highlight key areas that will help shape the health of Australians in the future.
Submission on Paracetamol Reschedule
CHF is committed to the National Medicines Policy and in ensuring that all Australians have access to high quality, safe medicines and that all medicines should be used in line with the principles of the quality use of medicines.
CHF is keen to ensure the scheduling process is used to protect consumers by restricting access based on possibility of harm. Considerations of harm need to include potential for overdose, either accidental or deliberate and put in place processes that reduce the opportunities for both.
There is considerable evidence that slow release paracetamol has a higher risk of accidental overdose than ordinary paracetamol and that it is more difficult to treat an overdose with this form than the standard. There is also the capacity for greater consequences of deliberate overdosing with the modified form, particularly as at present it is able to be purchased in large amounts i.e. boxes of 96 tablets.
Transcript: Consumer Estimates, My Health Record Webinar
Watch here: youtu.be/Ttz3eWx6BMU In this final webinar in the series, a panel of health consumers ask questions of a panel of representatives from Government about My Health Record.
ADVERTISING TO THE PUBLIC: Complying with the Therapeutic Goods Advertising Code 2018
CHF welcomed the Review of Medicines and Medical Device Regulation. Whilst we did not support all the recommended approach of removing the required pre-approval of therapeutic goods advertisements to a complaints-based system, we are pleased to work with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to ensure that new arrangements will continue to protect consumer interests.
We agree with the opening statement that “therapeutic goods are not usual items of commerce” mainly because of their capacity to cause harm or for there to be adverse consequences for consumers who use them. We know there are low levels of health literacy in Australia and this means that many consumers only have limited capacity to assess the merits of therapeutic products, so advertising aimed at consumers can be more influential than for other types of products.
Consumers Shaping Health Volume 12 Issue 4 October 2018
Results of Australia’s Health Panel survey on recommendations and regulation of smartphone apps for health and wellness
Consumers want support in finding accurate, effective smartphone apps for health and wellness, and they should be subject to an authoritative regulatory system that rates them for efficacy.
As consumers increasingly turn to health apps to aid and monitor their health and treatment, there’s clearly a need for people to know whether they can trust the apps, and whether they offer the best health option available and are worth the investment in time and money.
Our survey results highlight the growing public demand for credible and effective oversight of health apps given their accelerating reach into every aspect of health care.
Response to the Pharmaceutical Society: Pharmacists in 2023 Discussion Paper
CHF applauds the PSA’s renewed commitment to quality, safety, and meeting evolving community needs. We support the PSA’s intention to expand pharmacist roles but feel that this discussion paper has focused too much on community pharmacists and has overlooked the possibilities for hospital and consultant pharmacists, particularly at the point of clinical handover when communication between GPs and community pharmacies is crucial. With the title ‘Pharmacists in 2023’, CHF does wonder where PSA sees hospital pharmacists and consultant pharmacists fitting in and whether organisations like the Society for Hospital Pharmacists of Australia (SHPA) have been consulted in this vision.
Snakes & Ladders: The Journey to Primary Care Integration
This report presents the arguments as to why all political and other leaders must act now to transform Australia’s health system to ensure it is sustainable, effective, efficient, and leads to greater satisfaction for both consumers and service providers.
The report provides priorities for those leaders to maximise opportunities to achieve better health and wellbeing outcomes for individuals, their families and communities, and thereby unlock both social, capital and economic benefits for Australia.
Transcript: Digital Inclusion, Health Literacy and My Health Record Webinar
Watch here: youtu.be/B-9Z7KpQqW0 In this webinar, we discuss among other topics what skills are required to use My Health Record, the level of digital inclusion in Australia and discuss the ethics of the decision to opting people with low digital or health literacy into the My Health Record system.