• Childhood immunisation rates reach record high
• Being medicinewise during COVID-19
• Winnunga Nimmityjah AHCS July Newsletter
• Closing the Gap prescriptions now possible

Childhood immunisation rates reach record high

Australia’s childhood immunisation rates have risen to record levels, according to new immunisation coverage statistics. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander at five-years immunisation rate continues to improve and is now above the 95% target and higher than for non-Indigenous children. Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) have played a significant role in achieving this result.

To read the media release from the Minister for Health, Greg Hunt click here.

Being medicinewise during COVID-19

The poor health status of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population means for most medicines are part of life. Being medicinewise means a person knows all the medicines they take and why; understands the instructions for taking their medicines; checks with their health professional before taking any new medicine; and asks questions if there is anything they don’t understand about their medicines. During the COVID-19 pandemic it is especially important people are medicinewise. The National Prescribing Service (NPS) MedicineWise has a wide range of resources to help individuals, community groups and health services to promote being medicinewise.

To view the NPS MedicineWise website click here.

Images sources: The Medical Journal of Australia & the Australian Medical Student Journal.

Winnunga Nimmityjah AHCS Newsletter

Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Services (WNAHCS) have released the WNAHCS Newsletter July 2020 edition.

Click here to access the newsletter.

Closing the Gap prescriptions now possible

Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (AHHA) Strategic Director Dr Chris Bourke, Australia’s first Aboriginal dentist, says an announcement by the Commonwealth Department of Health that hospital doctors will be permitted to write Closing the Gap prescriptions is long overdue. “It will be a welcome support for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients, often hundreds of kilometres from home and their usual GP, to be able to get the medicines they need when discharged from hospital. The risks of medical conditions relapsing, and the need for readmission to hospital, will certainly be reduced by this much needed change.”

For further information regarding this reform click here.

Image source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.