Author: Team
World-First Pregnancy Study
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Here’s what you need to know:
- The world-first study is aiming to recruit 500 women, and will be performed at five hospitals across Sydney including St George Hospital, the Royal Hospital for Women, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Liverpool Hospital and Campbelltown Hospital.
- Study participants will be assigned one of three pathways for ongoing care, including follow up with a GP, attending a postpartum clinic or participating in a lifestyle program.
- Women and their babies will return to the hospital where they gave birth for further follow up and assessment six months after birth, and then at annual intervals from when their baby turns one.
Here’s what the experts are saying:
- Study Chief Investigator, Dr Amanda Henry, said “many studies have demonstrated that although blood pressure will return to normal for most women after a hypertensive pregnancy, they have at least double the long-term risk of heart attack, stroke and developing diabetes, and triple the risk of chronic high blood pressure, compared to women who had an uncomplicated pregnancy”.
- However, it is unknown whether monitoring or treatments in the first few years after a hypertensive pregnancy can improve health risks or outcomes for either a mother or her baby – The Blood Pressure Postpartum Study – or BP2 – is aiming to answer that question.
So, will it work:
- Because hypertensive pregnancy identifies a group of relatively young women at higher risk of heart disease, the team of researchers are hopeful the study will identify effective interventions that can improve the future health of thousands of Australian women.
Key Insight:
About one in 10 women in Australia have a hypertensive pregnancy, which equates to approximately 30,000 women affected annually.
Hypertensive disorders include preeclampsia, gestational hypertension or chronic hypertension.
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I’m Proud Of Our Progress But There’s Still More To Be Done
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]As the local Managing Director of a large global healthcare company I have no greater responsibility than to ensure that every patient we serve can live a healthier life.
But I am equally committed to running a successful company because if the business fails we ultimately fail our patients.
So, it was reaffirming to see the most recent Gender Equality at Work [i]report found a common denominator that set apart the high performing companies from the pack that were listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.
The common denominator was women in their leadership. Each business had either a female chair, CEO or CFO or a combination of the three.
It resonated with me because I have always believed that when it comes to advancing women in work, this is not just a fairness equation, it’s fundamentally a business equation.
Advancing women advances our business and allows us to unleash our full potential to not only compete in the healthcare industry of tomorrow, but to help people around the world to live longer, healthier lives today.
It is therefore quite apt that International Women’s Day in 2019 is all about #BalanceforBetter.
Around half the population are women who are equally in need of the best healthcare that technology can provide. So shouldn’t the people creating and delivering these medical technologies also reflect this gender diversity?
Afterall, a balanced, diverse workforce that mirrors a company’s customer base is more likely to be able to meet customer needs and new market opportunities, thus improving both financial and nonfinancial performance.
As leaders we must take responsibility to make it a reality and be intentional in our endeavours to do so.
I am proud that for more than 130 years, my company has been championing women and empowering them to succeed in the workplace and beyond. It’s helped me to achieve a wonderful career with many opportunities to now.
When Johnson & Johnson first opened its doors in 1886, eight of our first 14 employees were women. Today, our Australia and New Zealand workforce is more than 60 per cent female.
In 1908, Johnson & Johnson hired its first female scientist. Today, we are committed to ensure that half of all our STEM2D positions are filled by women.
This is a journey that Johnson & Johnson is on but I am proud of that history and the change we are seeing, not only at J&J but across the industry.
Here in Australia, for example, the members of the MTAA, that include Johnson & Johnson, began the Women in MedTech (WiMT) committee to lead the debate, proactively encourage gender diversity within the industry and support women to unlock their full potential.
It’s interesting to know that at Johnson & Johnson, a group of our female employees launched the Laurel Club back in 1907 to help foster professional development, wellness and community service among women. A group well ahead of its time.
Today, I am the Asia-Pac lead of our modern equivalent called Women’s Leadership & Inclusion (WLI) that has 186 chapters supported by our women and men all around the world.
On international women’s day, the new WLI strategy was launched that I hope will drive change that actively prepares our female workforce to be the leaders of tomorrow and tomorrow.
Its purpose is to foster an inclusive organisational environment that champions the advancement of women with a vision to achieve gender equality across our business globally, to enhance our competitive advantage and fuel the future of human health.
To achieve this we have programs for mentorship and sponsorship, fathers with daughters support so they can be role models and active champions of their child’s passions and dreams, and we are partnering with Universities through programs to engage the women in STEM2D workers of the future.
As an organisation, we represent the market in which we work and operate, in relation to age, gender, race, religion, sexual preference, disability and nationality and we must actively seek inclusion and input from all.
If we all were to do this as leaders then I believe it will deliver more robust dialogue, smarter decisions and ultimately, improved business performance in the short and long term.[/vc_column_text][vc_zigzag][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sue Martin is the Managing Director of Johnson & Johnson Medical devices Companies ANZ and is a Board Member of the MTAA.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
[i] Liveris, C, “Gender Equality at Work 2018: Opportunity, with Qualifications”, March 2018 (Based on ASX market data sourced in January 2018).
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Election Watch – Slowing Economy, Big Stick and Turnbull Returns
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The Economy – Front and Centre
As the nation heads towards a May 18 election the campaign shadow boxing between Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten continues.
This week the issue of the economy was prominent, with the release of the December quarter national accounts showing the economy slowing to annual grow of 2.3% below the Reserve Banks forecast of 3%.
Both sides sought to use the national accounts to their own political advantage with the Treasurer stating, “the economy is in fundamentally good shape” and Labor’s Chris Bowen claiming the government had “lost the moral authority to campaign and talk about the economy”.
With the economy always a key election issue Bill Shorten declared that the election will be “a referendum on wages” whereas the Prime Minister made his pitch as the election being a contest between “enterprise and envy”.
There is no doubt economic fundamentals remain sound, but also many people are doing it tough and this is felt through stagnating to low wages growth. Coupled with falling house prices there is danger for both sides in claiming to be the superior economic manager.
For Labor promising to abolish negative gearing against the backdrop of a falling housing prices may further exacerbate people’s feelings of economic anxiety and insecurity. For the Government campaigning on a strong economy, when living costs are going up but their wages aren’t, leaves them vulnerable to claims of being out of touch.
Is the ‘Big Stick’ Back on the Table
In a development no doubt not welcomed by either the Prime Minister or Nationals leader and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, six Queensland Nationals MPs have demanded the shelved ‘big stick’ energy reforms be put to a vote in budget week.
The ‘big stick’ laws would allow the Government to force energy companies to be broken up in order to try and drive down energy costs.
Given budget week is also the last week of sittings before the election is held in May, it is highly unlikely the Prime Minister wants to be distracted in budget week with another divisive party room debate on energy policy.
The Prime Minister will want to use budget week to position the Government as the superior economic manager underpinned by a budget back in the black sooner than expected and not dominated by another debate over energy policy.
It is a measure of the political potency energy prices are as an electoral issue, that these six MPs are calling for a vote on these laws during budget week which would totally undermine the Government’s budget week strategy.
Malcolm Turnbull Returns
The ghost of Malcolm Turnbull returns to haunt the Morrison Government.
Following last week’s claim by Julie Bishop that she would have beaten Bill Shorten in a head to head contest, Malcom Turnbull has claimed in an interview out of London that he was dumped as leader because his own party was afraid, he would win!!
This must certainly be one of the more bizarre modern-day political claims, as most parties dump their leaders as their colleagues believe they can’t win the next election.
Putting aside the bizarreness of this claim, the concern for the Government is that with the election campaign just around the corner, will Malcolm Turnbull be to the Liberal Party what Mark Latham was to Julie Gillard in the 2010 campaign, a totally unwelcome distraction.
Many in the Government will be hoping that Turnbull sits out the campaign but to date he has shown no signs of doing so.
Until next week.[/vc_column_text][vc_zigzag][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”1915″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jody Fassina is the Managing Director of Insight Strategy and has served as a strategic adviser to MedTech and pharmaceutical stakeholders.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]
MedTech Industry Responds to Catheter Ablation Announcement
A Political Heart-to-Heart
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]This week Minister for Health, Greg Hunt, announced the creation of a new Medicare item for heart health checks. A day later, Shadow Minister for Health, Catherine King, announced that a future Labor Government would invest $170 million in Medicare to take on cardiovascular disease.
The Hunt announcement:
From 1 April 2019, a new dedicated MBS item for health check will support General Practitioners and patients in assessing cardiovascular risk. The independent medical experts at the Medical Benefits Schedule Review Taskforce will also conduct a review with the potential for further development of this new Medicare item.
The King announcement:
The Opposition hopes its investment promise will prevent an estimated 76,500 heart attacks and strokes over five years. King stated the investment would ensure that all at-risk Aussies can undergo heart health checks as part of a comprehensive vascular screen that tests their blood pressure and looks at lifestyle factors such as smoking status.
So, what’s the key take away from this story? Well, as Minister Hunt said: “anyone who is concerned about their heart health should always ask their GP for a check-up”. Currently there are a range of Medicare items that cover services and tests where people may have heart disease or are at risk of heart disease including:
- Specialist consultations with cardiologists;
- Electrocardiograms tests (ECG);
- Exercise ECG;
- Stress (exercise) ECG;
- Cardiac ECG;
- Coronary angiography;
- Computer tomography coronary arteries;
- Chest X-ray;
- Electrophysiology studies;
- Cholesterol tests;
- Lipid tests; and
- Glucose test.
KEY INSIGHT: One Australian dies of cardiovascular disease every 12 minutes, with one Australian experiencing a heart attach or stroke very five minutes.
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Election Watch – Another Week Another Poll
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THE POLLS
What Newspoll showed was that there had been no change in the Government’s position, and they continued to trail the ALP by 53 to 47 two party preferred.
For the Government they would have been looking for confirmation that Ipsos was not a ‘once off’ and for the ALP they would have sighed a collective sigh of relief that Newspoll hadn’t tightened on the back of the border security debate.
This does not mean that border security goes away as an issue, it just means in the absence of a new line of attack the media in particular had moved on.
For Labor during the federal campaign proper, they will be hoping that there are literally not any boats on the horizon which would only serve to derail their campaign strategy. Labor do not want boats as an issue during the federal campaign.
Budget 2019-20
The budget will be bought down on 2 April 2019, a month earlier than usual. This budget is unique in that the Prime Minister will very soon after the budget call the Federal election, most likely for May 18.
This means any of the new budget measures are essentially election commitments and will only be implemented if the Morrison Government is re-elected.
Depending on the budget giveaways, Labor will also have to very quickly decide (depending on what the giveaways might be) whether to support some of them or not. The most obvious will be potential personal income tax cuts. Labor has its own plan for personal tax cuts so expect this is to be a potential policy battlefield.
The Morrison Government will be hoping to use the budget as a spring board into the election on its preferred policy ground of superior economic management. This will be underpinned by the budget being back in surplus sooner than planned and contrasted against Labors $200 billion tax grab and spending commitments.
Royal Commission
A Royal Commission into the disability sector will be announced very soon and will run parallel with the Aged Care Royal Commission.
As the Prime Minister himself has said this inquiry will be just as big and revealing as the Banking Royal Commission.
With two of our communities most vulnerable groups aged citizens and those with disabilities subject to a Royal Commission it will really hold up a mirror to Australia as a nation and how we treat some of our most vulnerable citizens.
The major challenge going forward for our policy makers and Governments is following the Royal Commissions and subsequent reports and recommendations, the cost of fixing both will no doubt run into the billions of dollars.
The inevitable question will be who and how will the changes that will no doubt need to be made be paid for. That is going to be a major challenge for the nation as a whole.[/vc_column_text][vc_zigzag][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”1915″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jody Fassina is the Managing Director of Insight Strategy and has served as a strategic adviser to MedTech and pharmaceutical stakeholders.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Aussie Schoolboy’s Hearing Loss Invention Idea
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Introducing Leon!
Meet Leon, a 9-year-old self-described “Aussie Deaf Kid” from Perth. Leon is the first and only Australian kid to win the annual global invention competition, ‘Ideas for Ears’.
The competition, organised by global hearing loss solutions innovator MED-EL, challenges children aged between 6-12 years old from across the globe to come up with an invention to improve the quality of life for people living with hearing loss.
Competing against kids from 19 other countries, Leon was selected as one of only nine other worldwide winners to travel to Austria to meet the inventors of his cochlear implants.
So what was Leon’s idea?
Leon’s winning entry video described a Bluetooth watch that was able to communicate with hearing implants and chance them to various custom settings, such as reducing wind noise when outdoors. Leon’s invention would also include a “Device Locator” app to help find lost processors easily, and a “Wakey, Wakey” function which is a “vibrating, flashing alarm to wake you up, but also has a setting that turns your cochlear volume up slowly over 5 minutes”.
After learning of the good news, Leon (a little speechless) told MED-EL:
“I am very happy about winning the contest. I was so shocked and surprised that my idea won. I’m so excited about going on a trip to the other side of the world and meeting the people that designed and made the implants I have. It is really amazing that one day my idea might be able to help people with hearing loss like me.”
FOLLOW ALONG
To follow Leon’s journey to Austria in July, check out the ideas4ears Facebook page or search #ideas4ears on social media.
KEY INSIGHT: One in six Aussies currently affected by hearing loss, that number is expected to rise to one in four by 2050.
TAKE A HEARING TEST
MED-EL is providing the opportunity during 2019’s Hearing Awareness Week for people to participate in a briefing hearing test online (www.listen.explore-life.com/en/), following which participants can elect to receive an information package, visit their GP or Audiology clinic to explore their options further.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Regional Australia Missing Out On Cancer Treatment
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Greater access to radiation therapy services could help improve that statistic, and one of the key barriers to accessing radiation therapy is distance from a treatment centre – if you happen to live in Geraldton, WA, for example, it’s over four hours travel to the nearest centre.
Invest in this:
The Radiation Therapy for Regional Australia campaign was launched in Newcastle this week, calling on the Federal Government and Opposition to invest in radiation therapy for regional Australia and address the clear under-use of radiation therapy across the country generally.
According to Associate Professor Peter O’Brien from the University of Newcastle, “Australia is lagging well behind Europe and North America in radiation therapy utilisation, and the Federal Government and Opposition must take action.”
How does Australia compare?
In Australia, radiation therapy is underused in the fight against cancer. In Europe and North America, 1 in 2 cancer patients receives it as part of their treatment, here it is only 1 in 3.
The campaign was launched by the Radiation Therapy Advisory Group, a group formed in 2017, comprising of expert individuals and organisations dedicated to raising the profile of radiation therapy and ensuring it is adequately funded by government.
The group has previously published a cost benefit analysis of radiation therapy as compared to other forms of treatment and found that radiation therapy results in significantly fewer out of pocket costs for patients than surgery.
Let’s give all Australians a better chance at beating cancer – join the campaign here: http://www.radiationtherapy.org.au/ & here: https://www.facebook.com/regionalradiationtherapy/[/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KXNaEXvZoE” title=”The problem of distance in accessing radiation therapy”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Unforeseen Consequences For Older Australians
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Insurers have until April 2020 to implement the new tiers, however, the new system will start rolling out from April this year.
Under the reforms, cataracts, joint replacements, dialysis for chronic kidney failure, and insulin pumps will all fall under the ‘Gold’ category, which, according to Senate Estimates this week, will comprise around 45 per cent of all policies.
It is still unclear what this will mean for private health fund members overall, but for older Australians who are more sensitive to increases in the price of their policies, the categorisation of joint-replacements and cataracts as Gold, may limit their access to these procedures, which will have the potential impact of pushing them onto public waiting lists.
Based on 2017 Australian Orthopaedic National Joint Replacement Registry data, osteoarthritis is the principal diagnosis for all five types of partial knee replacements (at 98.9 per cent) and primary total knee replacement (at 97.6 per cent of cases). The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reports that in 2014-15, 2.1 million Australians had osteoarthritis, with the prevalence of the condition rising sharply after the age of 45, and being greatest in patients aged 80 and over. There was a rise of 38 per cent in total knee replacements from 2005-06 to 2015-16.
Older patients most likely to need insurance for new knees are those most likely to be unable to afford to upgrade to gold coverage and may be left with no alternative to join the waiting list for treatment in the public system.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
