Highlights of Publications, Articles and Reports
2011
UN High-Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases:addressing four questions This article published on June 13 in The Lancet was coauthored by Professor Rob Moodie and discusses the global crisis in Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), principally heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory which now requires a comprehensive global response.
Nanny knows best: Why Big Tobacco's attack on Mary Poppins ought to backfire was published in The Conversation on June 20 and authored by Professor Rob Moodie.
Braving the jab for community immunity. This article published on June 14 in The Conversation was authored by Associate Professor Tilman Ruff
A Guide to Working Abroad for Australian Medical Students and Junior Doctors and published by The Medical Journal of Australia, 20 June 2011.
Effects of a Multilingual Information Website Intervention on the Levels of Depression Literacy and Depression-Related Stigma in Greek-Born and Italian-Born Immigrants Living in Australia: A Randomized Controlled Trial was co-authored by Associate Professor Grant Blashki.
The mortuary as a source of injury data: Progress towards a mortuary data guideline for fatal injury surveillance co-authored by Dr Nathan Grills, updates his ongoing work with the mortuary data guideline was published in the International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion.
The climate change challenge for general practice in New Zealand was coauthored by Associate Professor Grant Blashki and published in The New Zealand Medical Journal on 29 April 2011.
Priority actions for the non-communicable disease crisis was coauthored by Professor Rob Moodie and published in The Lancet, April 6 2011.Opioid substitution therapy in resource-poor settings an editorial piece co-authored by Dr Michelle Kermode and Professor Nick Crofts is published in the WHO Bulletin 2011.
Disability Inclusive Practices in Eye Health. This document has been produced to build upon the great work already undertaken by eye health services in developing countries.
Health Voucher scheme in Bangladesh
‘Is demand side financing equity enhancing? Lessons from a maternal health voucher scheme in Bangladesh’ written by Dr. Shakil Ahmed has been accepted by Social Science & Medicine Journal for publication. This is one of the first papers, presenting statistical data of a methodological sound study on the impact of voucher schemes on utilisation rates of maternal care among poor and non-poor voucher recipients. The evidence base of vouchers and their impact is still very small, and this article will be an important addition and significant contribution.
Alcohol controls in Australia
A review of public opinion towards alcohol controls in Australia, published in BMC Public Health 2011 reviews levels of and trends in public support for liquor control regulations, regulation of alcohol promotions, and alcohol pricing and taxation reforms in Australia between 1998 and 2009 and was co-authored by Professor Rob Moodie.
2010
Opioid substitution therapy in Manipur and Nagaland, North-east India: operational research in action
There is good evidence for the effectiveness of opioid substitution therapy (OST) for injecting drug users (IDUs) in middle and high-income countries but little evidence regarding the provision of OST by nongovernment organisations (NGOs) in resource-poor settings. This paper reports on outcomes of an NGO-based OST program providing sub-lingual buprenorphine to opiate dependent IDUs in two north-east Indian states (Manipur and Nagaland), a region where conflict, under-development, HIV, and injecting of heroin and Spasmoproxyvon (SP) are ongoing problems. This study is based on secondary analysis of data that were routinely and prospectively collected from all clients enrolled in OST, and is best classified as operational research. The paper was led by Mr Greg Armstrong and Dr Michelle Kermode with support from Prof. Nick Crofts and our in-country partners.
Reducing the gap in China's rural-urban health care outcomes
Few health systems are as exhilarating as the health system of China because of its vast ambiguous reforms that have implications beyond the
national boundary of China. Reducing the gap in rural-urban health outcomes has been a focus of China’s health reform since 2002. The success of this process is still to be determined. Dr Kit Yee Chan of the Nossal Institute in collaboration with colleagues from Peking University Health Sciences Center, the Ministry of Health (China) and the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University (Malaysia), have a published a research paper in "Health Affairs" whereby the authors draw upon the national survey data from 2003 and 2008, and present an analysis of changes in rural-urban gaps in inpatient services provision for chronic disease patients. The results show an overall reduction in the rural-urban service gap, but unevenness in the distribution of gains across different regions of China. Furthermore, inpatient services continued to cost more for rural residents despite a significant increase in hospital services utilization and a decrease in out-of-pocket expenditure by all residents nationally. The problem is discussed with relation to the shortfalls within the reimbursement policy of China’s rural health insurance scheme and socio-economic development more generally. The findings have important implications for any low and middle income countries (LMICs) using health insurance to improve health care access for their populations.
Photo: Factory workers in rural China. Photo source: Dr Kit Yee Chan
Tobacco control and medical doctors in Laos: promising signs for the future
Tobacco use is the single greatest preventable cause of illness and mortality. The Nossal Institute was involved in a recent publication that reported on smoking and its determinants among doctors in Laos, where community smoking prevalence is high. [Read more...]The study was the first comprehensive assessment among doctors, who are important as role models and potential sources of information on the risks of tobacco and strategies for quitting. The study found much lower smoking rates than in the general population, and smoking was concentrated overwhelmingly among older male doctors. The doctors surveyed had good tobacco-related knowledge and most said they would endorse strong tobacco control policy actions. While many reported trying to offer cessation support to patients, the large majority lacked confidence, and few had ever had training in this area.
The authors conclude that the willingness of doctors to take up their tobacco control role, and the lower smoking rates among younger doctors, offers an important window of opportunity to consolidate Lao doctors’ knowledge, attitudes, skills and enthusiasm as quit advocates and supporters.
Article:Smoking among Lao Medical Doctors: Challenges and opportunities for tobacco control.<
"Sleeping with the enemy? Engaging with law enforcement in prevention of HIV among and from Injecting drug users in Asia", by the Law Enforcement and Harm Reduction at the Nossal Institute (LEHRN) Partnership, appears in HIV Matters, October 2010 edition.
Climate change and Australia's healthcare systems - risks, research and responses co-authored by Associate Professor Grant Blashki appears in the Australian Health Review, a CSIRO publication.
Mental Health Research
Mr Gregory Armstrong and Associate Professor Grant Blashki from the Nossal Institute for Global Health have led a novel study providing preliminary evidence that a brief educational intervention can train social workers to competently deliver targeted cognitive behavioural strategies for people experiencing common mental health problems. An ongoing health challenge is to provide broad community access to evidence-based psychological treatments that are high quality, affordable and equitably distributed, and where the intensity of treatments is matched to people's mental health needs. With suitable evidence-based training, social workers and other allied health professionals may provide an effective option for non-specialist delivery of brief psychological interventions within the primary care setting. [View Journal Article]
Recent Media Articles
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Professor Nick Crofts' article 'Booze the greater of two evils' published in the Society and Culture section of 'The Age' on Tuesday 26 October 2010 raises the issue of decrmininalising and regulating the use of less harmful recreational drugs. |
Dr Kiran Martin (ASHA) is the focus of an article written by Jo Chandler "From slums to hope, a modern plan for urban poor". Dr Martin is a guest this week of the University of Melbourne and the Nossal Institute to deliver the Chancellor’s Human Rights Lecture on Wednesday 6 October.
The Chair of the Nossal Institute Council and Member of the University of Melbourne Council, Ms. Elizabeth Alexander features in an article written by Carol Nader "Women advised to walk the walk"
Both of these articles appear in 'The Age' on Wednesday 6 October, 2010.
Consequences of increasing youth unemployment rate written by Nossal Institute co-supervised PhD Candidate Sudirman Nasir appears in the Jakarta Post on October 12, 2010.
Health Systems in Zambia
Strengthening Health Systems at Facility Level: Feasability of Integrating Antiretroviral Therapy in to Primary Health Care Services in Lusaka, Zambia. This article describes the development and implementation of a model of integrated HIV and non-HIV outpatient services in two primary health care clinics in Lusaka, Zambia. Based on the work of a team from the Lusaka District Health Management Team, and a PEPFAR-funded NGO, it highlights key features of the integrated service model, and reports qualitative and quantitative results from a feasibility study. The research was led by Stephanie Topp who has lived and worked in Zambia for three years, and who is now a PhD student at the Nossal Institute.
HIV prevention
The importance of sex worker interventions: the case of Avahan in India co-authoured by Marie Laga, Christine Galavotti, Sundar Sundaramon and Rob Moodie.
Aceh partnership in youth health
Aceh partnership in Health Publication Youth Friendly Health Services in Conservative and Challenging Settings Case Study: Aceh Province in Indonesia. This publication is a joint project between The Nossal Institute for Global Health at The University of Melbourne, YAKITA and World Vision Australia. The authors are Emma Brathwaite and Jia Zhen from the Nossal Institute, and Joyce Djaelani-Gordan and Yuanita Marini Nagel from YAKITA. The YAKITA Youth Friendly Health Service is implemented by Yayasan Harapan Permata Hati Kita (YAKITA), an Indonesian organisation with financial support from World Vision Australia and technical assistance from the Nossal Institute for Global Health.
Social Work Study
An article appears in "Snaphot of Primary Health Care Research 2010" published by The Primary Health Care Research and Information Service (PHCRIS) highlighting the research of Mr Greg Armstrong and Associate Professor Grant Blashki on the randomised controlled trial (RCT) study evaluating the impact of training for social workers in Focused Psychological Strategies (FPS) and subsequent role that allied health professionals can have in Australian Mental Health Services.
Focus on Maternal Health
An article by Dr Alison Morgan, "Focus on Maternal Health" - MDG5: A comprehensive approach required" appears in the Australian Volunteers Magazine Edition 2, 2010. Dr Morgan writes on the subject of "Maternal Mortality as a significant marker of inequity" in the pre and post-natal health care of women in the global community.
Report from a Seminar - HIV, Drugs & Mental Health
The intersection of HIV, illicit drugs, mental health and human rights in Asia - Report from a seminar, 6th August 2010HIV prevention and care work in Asia takes us to issues of mental health and drugs, especially injecting but latterly the rise and impact of methamphetamines. The exponential increase in the use of methamphetamine has also highlighted the inadequacies of treatment protocols for licit or illicit drugs. At issue is the use of detention centres without physical or mental health preadmission assessments to determine the individual health interventions that may or may not be required. Furthermore, the current approach not only has implications for mental health but for HIV prevention and care, human rights and the ongoing dialogue between the health and security sectors. [Read more....]