สวัสดี (Sawasdee) and happy Friday from Thailand!
I'm in Chonburi as a guest speaker at the Medical Associations of South East Asian Nations (MASEAN) mid-term meeting with its theme focusing on e-cigarettes and other harmful inhalable substances. I was honoured to be invited and to share the journey Australia has been on with tobacco and e-cigarette/vape reforms, and the AMA's strong role in that. It's a policy position our country should be proud of, and clearly many of our neighbours are keen to learn from us. Of course, Australia's strong record on tobacco control has been many decades in the making, and requires constant maintenance and modernisation. Just this week we saw some encouraging news, welcoming new data showing teenage vaping has 'turned a corner' in Australia . It's a testament to our sustained advocacy and strong policy action, and shows we're finally seeing the cultural shift we've been pushing for among young Australians.
It's wonderful to meet with the many medical associations in the region and discuss issues affecting us all. I've been hosted so warmly by the Medical Association of Thailand and look forward to welcoming their President at our AMA25 Conference in Adelaide in just a few weeks! (Reminder, registrations are still open …just!)
This week, though, has had its share of sadness with the funerals of Dr Brian Morton AM and Dr Lindsay Thompson. We included tributes in last week's newsletters, but this week I travelled to attend Dr Morton's service, and A/Prof Julian Rait attended Dr Thompson's memorial. It was sad to farewell two AMA greats in one week, but they both serve as an exemplar to us all. Both put the care of patients highest on their list of values and fought hard for a system to support quality patient care. It was lovely to see so many people together to honour them and to hear so many stories from everyone who was fortunate enough to know them. Vale.
I was in chilly Canberra again last weekend for our joint meeting of our IMG Working Group and Council of Public Hospital Doctors. Doctors who trained overseas (IMGs) are a critical part of our workforce right across the country, particularly in rural and remote Australia. We are, and will be long into the future, reliant on their dedication to their craft, and willingness to live and work as part of the Australian community. But the pathways to working here remain confusing, lengthy, and even upon arrival the orientation can be patchy (or sometimes barely existent). As an organisation, we are working hard to better understand the unique supports needed by our internationally trained doctors, and it was wonderful to progress these conversations last weekend.
We discussed key strategies for strengthening IMG support, including advocacy efforts around the 10-year moratorium, improving workplace conditions and cultural safety, and developing better orientation and supervision frameworks. There was strong ongoing support for our Anti-Racism In Healthcare position statement and further affirmation that racism has no place in our healthcare system. The group also examined rural workforce challenges and the importance of creating more transparent career pathways for IMGs working across Australia's health system.
This week marked National Diabetes Week , providing an important opportunity to highlight prevention strategies for type 2 diabetes. We renewed our call for Australia to introduce a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages to help curb the nation's escalating health crisis. With more than 100 jurisdictions worldwide already implementing successful sugar taxes, it is time for Australia to catch up. Our proposal for a 50-cent tax per 100 grams of sugar would drive down annual sugar consumption by 2kg per person while raising $3.6 billion in government revenue for crucial preventive health measures. It's been fantastic to see this has garnered some great media coverage throughout the week, with Sunrise, The Daily Telegraph, news.com.au , 2GB and several other outlets highlighting this proposal. Labor MP and paediatrician Dr Mike Freelander was also in the media backing our sugar tax proposal. It's great to have his support!
This week also brought some concerning findings about maternity care in Australia. New research published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology revealed troubling disparities in birthing outcomes between public and private hospitals. We need increased funding for public hospitals to ensure safe, high-quality maternity services with continuity of care prioritised. The closure of many private maternity services is also concerning and must be addressed to give families proper choice in their pregnancy care.
I'll update you with more from the MASEAN meeting next week. Until then, stay safe and well, and you'll hear from me next Friday.
