ABC Melbourne interview with Jon Faine

E&OE…                       Topics: Productivity Commission mental health inquiry   JON FAINE: The federal government have announced that they’ve asked the Productivity Commission to look into the supply and the provision of mental health services right around Australia. Greg Hunt, local Victorian MP for the seat of Flinders down on the southeast of Victoria, is the…

RN Breakfast interview with Fran Kelly

E&OE…                       Topics: Productivity Commission mental health inquiry; Nauru; Opera House   FRAN KELLY: Greg Hunt is the Federal Health Minister. He announced that productivity review yesterday. I spoke with him earlier.   GREG HUNT: Good morning Fran.   FRAN KELLY: Is this primarily a cost saving exercise to get better bang for your mental…

Doorstop – Perth

E&OE…                       Topics: Spinal arthritis drug listed on PBS; GST.   GREG HUNT: It’s a privilege to be here at Fiona Stanley Hospital with my colleague Ben Morton, Member for Tangney, who’s been an incredible advocate, not just for the hospital but for patients and for Murdoch University. It’s extraordinary to meet leading clinicians and…

Thousands to benefit from spinal arthritis medication listing on PBS

The Morrison Government will make a medication for severe inflammatory spinal arthritis more affordable when it is listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), saving patients more than $15,000 a year. Almost 4,000 patients who suffer from active non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis will benefit when Simponi® (Golimumab) becomes available on the PBS on December 1. Patients…

ABC Radio interview with Sandy Aloisi

E&OE…                       Topics: Eliminating cervical cancer; genetic testing under the new Australian Genomics Health Futures Mission.   SANDY ALOISI: New research from the Cancer Council predicts Australia will become the first country in the world to eliminate cervical cancer. Last year, Australia transitioned from pap smears, recommended every two years, to a test that detects…

Morrison Government hospital funding grows 62 times faster than states

The latest official figures show funding for public hospitals has shifted from states and territories to the Commonwealth with the Morrison Government’s contribution growing 62 times faster than the states. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) report, Health Expenditure Australia 2016–17, shows Australian Government funding for public hospitals rose by 6.2 per cent in…