Latest news with #CALD
ABC News
2 days ago
- Health
- ABC News
New immunisation plan to tackle drop in childhood vaccination rates
The federal government has revealed plans to tackle declining childhood vaccination rates with the launch of a new immunisation plan. It follows warnings from experts in recent months about the risk to herd immunity in Australia for some preventable diseases. In launching the National Immunisation Strategy on Thursday, Health Minister Mark Butler will tell a communicable diseases and immunisation conference: "The new strategy comes at a critical time. "Even though our childhood vaccination rates are still world leading, we cannot take this for granted," Mr Butler will say in a speech seen by the ABC. The plan sets a goal of increasing immunisation uptake around Australia over the next five years by reducing vaccine hesitancy and improving access. "Through this strategy, we will reduce the impact of vaccine-preventable diseases through high uptake of immunisation that is safe, effective and equitable across Australia," Mr Butler will say. Several priority areas have been identified as crucial to increasing immunisation coverage, including building trust in vaccines. First Nations communities will also be a key focus as they have lower vaccination rates than the rest of the Australian population for almost every vaccine. "The urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic … highlighted clear needs for more equitable access to vaccination, particularly for individuals with disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, rural and remote Australians, disadvantaged communities and CALD communities," the strategy reads. The public health agency focused on vaccine-preventable diseases, the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, helped develop the plan. Its director, Kristine Macartney, said key to improving vaccine coverage is tracking public sentiment, especially in priority groups such as First Nations communities, older people, infants and children, people with disability and residents in rural, remote and regional areas. "We can do better at ensuring that partnerships are made with the community to really share information, share knowledge and address access or acceptance gaps," Professor Macartney said. "There's an important element to understanding an individual's journey through the healthcare system to say, is this working for you to go and get your vaccines? Do you have the information and the access and the support from healthcare professionals and healthcare system that you would like to be able to take vaccines up?" A real-time dashboard of coverage data for all Australian government-funded vaccines has also been flagged, which could publish up-to-date coverage data by "age group, scheduled vaccines, dose, socio-demographic detail, race and ethnicity, and pregnancy status". Vaccination experts have told the ABC that dashboard would be "best practice", if it is well developed. A no-fault vaccine compensation scheme will also be explored, similar to broader vaccine injury compensation systems in place in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, United States, Japan and South Korea. Australia implemented a claims scheme for people who suffered a moderate to severe impact following an adverse reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine. The new strategy emphasises vaccines are "overwhelmingly safe with only very rare serious adverse events", but broad compensation schemes should be accessible.
SBS Australia
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- SBS Australia
SBS Filipino Radio Program, Monday 26 May 2025
What do you usually buy from Filipino shops? Discover the story of artist Mon Coloma and the miracle that brought him into the world of art. In SBS Examines, listen to why many individuals from CALD communities — especially women — are avoiding or delaying preventive cancer care. SBS Filipino 26/05/2025 43:26 📢 Where to Catch SBS Filipino
ABC News
19-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Clinicians voice fears over lack of public psychologists in SA
A clinician says a "mass exodus" of public psychologists in South Australia has created long waits for those seeking mental health treatment, as SA Health admits it is struggling to retain staff. SA Health data seen by the ABC states only 12 per cent of 1,894 registered psychologists in the state work in the public system. Of the 236 psychologists working for SA Health, data reveals 74 per cent work part-time, and 44 per cent are on short-term contracts. Adelaide-based clinical psychologist Benjamin Stewart said there were not enough clinicians to meet increasing demand. "You see that in long waiting times for both private and public services and people really needing to triage their services so some people aren't going to be missing out," he said. He said the "stakes were higher" for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) people and people living in lower socio-economic and rural areas. He said this was due to financial and language barriers and a lack of interpreting services. "If you delay someone receiving the appropriate mental health care, the problem is going to worsen," Mr Stewart said. "It's going to be aggravated, and so by the time they do reach a mental health service, they're going to need a lot more intensive or longer … support potentially." Asma Safi is a henna artist but found her craft difficult when she could not access mental health support. "I loved henna, but when I was going through this mental health issue, I was unable to enjoy these activities," she said. ''Or I was unable to enjoy talking to my best friends, or going to work, going to school." Ms Safi immigrated to Australia from Afghanistan in 2011 and was only able to access a public psychologist after asking for help at Multicultural Youth SA. She then got an appointment in a week. Ms Safi said mental health had a broad effect on people's lives, from the individual to their family, friends, neighbours and co-workers. "Don't give up. Seek help," she said. In a statement, SA Health said the attraction and retention of mental health workers was "a nationwide challenge" given "the differing pay and professional structure" across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. It said it does not record vacancy rates because roles are created or reduced based on patient demand in each local health network. Disadvantaged households reported having anxiety disorders and affective disorders at a much higher rate than wealthier households, government data from 2020 and 2021 shows. Recent research by Monash University revealed each person with high mental health needs required access to 12 clinical psychology sessions per year. That data showed those living in Salisbury, in Adelaide's north, have access to 1.2 sessions of Medicare-subsidised clinical psychology per year, while people in Playford and Port Adelaide, in Adelaide's north-west, have access to 1.4 and 1.5 sessions. In regional South Australia, Yorke and Eyre Peninsula residents can access 0.7 and 0.2 sessions per year. In comparison, the research found people in the eastern suburbs of Mitcham and Burnside have access to 8.2 and 6.9 clinical psychology sessions per year respectively. The South Australian Psychologists Association (SAPA) — a sub-branch of the Health Services Union — said postcode and place of birth should not dictate whether people can access basic mental health services. "It's going to have a flow on effect to things … such as employment, participation rates and pressure on the hospital system," SAPA executive member Laura Harley said. SAPA president Deborah McLean said the cost-of-living crisis had made services "prohibitive" for many people and there had been a "mass exodus" of public psychologists in the last decade. She said a "significant discrepancy" in pay and conditions between public and private clinicians was to blame. "We'd like to be able to fill the vacancies that we have. We'd like to see the creation of new positions," she said. "It's more attractive for people to want to train as a psychologist if they have access to paid placements." Ms McLean disputed SA Health's claim vacancy rates were not recorded, telling the ABC "we're sitting at 50 per cent vacancy in a lot of our local areas, so people just don't have access". "At the moment, we're only meeting about 65 per cent of the demand," she told ABC Radio Adelaide. "When you can be earning six times more in the private sector, it's hard to stay, particularly as wages have gone backwards for us." Health Minister Chris Picton said improvements needed to be made in South Australia's mental health system, but disputed claims of a "mass exodus" from the public system. A spokesperson for Mr Picton's office said "figures show there's actually been a 5 per cent increase under our government" with the number of full time equivalent roles increase from 157 in 2022 to 165 in 2025. Mr Picton said an "area of hope" was addressing the bottleneck created by university students studying psychology who did not end up in the profession at the end of their degree. "We're working with the universities across SA Health at the moment to develop a workforce plan specifically for that," he said.
SBS Australia
19-05-2025
- Health
- SBS Australia
Why are migrant women missing out on vital medical tests?
Neha Kumar lost her mum to breast cancer just two years after her diagnosis. 'I'll never forget that phone call, because she said to me, 'I was in the shower, this scab on my chest started to bleed.' 'She didn't even want to say the word breast,' Neha recalled. She said her mother Renu left things too late after turning a blind eye to her symptoms. Especially in South Asian communities, we never talk about our bodies, especially private parts of our bodies. "She never said she had a scab there, or talked about finding a lump. In fact, I don't think she was ever taught to scan her breasts." As well as the cultural stigma around breast and cervical screening, there are also barriers to do with language, accessibility and fear. General Practitioner Dr Mariam Chaalan believes visibility is key to encouraging culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) women to engage in preventative care. 'It's about normalising the conversation, creating space for that trust, offering real choices, whether that's seeing a female GP or accessing interpreter services or doing that self collection,' said Dr Chaalan. It's not just another medical test, it's a chance to prevent cancer. And everyone deserves that chance no matter where they come from. This episode of SBS Examines asks what needs to be done to remove the stigma around cancer screening for women in CALD communities. SBS English 07/04/2025 07:38
