Latest news with #ChristineWalters
The Guardian
08-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Beware the machines taking over in sport
Hugh Muir's farewell to line judges at Wimbledon, who have been replaced by electronic wizardry, fails to mention the greatest benefit: we are no longer subjected to the inane slow hand-clapping that accompanied the pause before the verdict of the electronic line judge, as if it could speed up the decision (Look at Wimbledon without human line judges and tell me this: do you really want life to be perfect? 2 July). Technology has been applied to cricket to its benefit, with the DRS (decision review system) assisting the umpires. Yet one could argue that football has been ruined by VAR (video assistant referee), as referees have become slaves to it. Goals that were once the result of a perfectly timed run are now judged to have been a shirt's thickness offside. Beware the Martin SchwarzDelph, Greater Manchester I've been more worried about the ball boys and girls at Wimbledon in the heat rather than lack of line judges. Why not go the whole hog and replace them with robots? Let the players go back to getting their own towels rather than expecting the youngsters to hand them WaltersBuxton, Derbyshire Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
ABC News
17-06-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Teens urged to get HPV vaccine
Isabella Higgins: The proportion of Australian teenagers who've had the vaccine that prevents cervical cancer is the lowest it's been in almost 10 years. Experts are urging teens to get a catch-up vaccine if they've missed the human papillomavirus or HPV shot. And one woman is taking the campaign personally. National Health Equity reporter, Caitlin Gribbin. Caitlyn Gribbin: Early mornings are a sacred time at the Walters property. Christine Walters: Mia, do you want to let these just open up? Caitlyn Gribbin: Christine and her 12-year-old daughter Mia have eight horses to feed near Crow's Nest, two hours west of Brisbane. Christine Walters: Peace, that's the one word they bring. It's a nice bonding time for Mia and I. Caitlyn Gribbin: Today's a good day. Christine Walters is up doing what she loves, something she was told may not be possible. Christine Walters: I was diagnosed with cervical cancer back in 2014. Then given a terminal diagnosis and given 12 months, I said no. Caitlyn Gribbin: Christine doesn't know how long she has left and believes if a vaccine had been around when she was young, she wouldn't now be fighting this battle. Christine Walters: I don't think a lot of people see one little needle can protect you for something so significant as a cancer. Caitlyn Gribbin: But the uptake of that one little needle is dropping. The human papillomavirus vaccine is given in schools and is the frontline defence in shielding the body from HPV infection, the virus that causes cervical cancer. HPV is the most common viral sexually transmitted infection. It can also cause other genital, anal and oral cancers and genital warts. But experts reveal vaccine coverage for HPV by 15 years of age is at its worst rate in almost a decade. Dr Frank Beard : The trends are heading in the wrong direction. We're not on track to meet our goals at this rate. Caitlyn Gribbin: Dr Frank Beard is the Associate Director of the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance. He says to achieve cervical cancer elimination targets, Australia needs to extend HPV vaccination coverage to at least 90% in all adolescents aged 15 years by 2030. Dr Frank Beard : We're now back to where we were around a decade ago. We're now down to around 81% for teenage girls and around 78% for teenage boys. Caitlyn Gribbin: Only 70% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teens have had the jab by 15 years of age. Experts believe the decline in vaccination rates is because school attendance has dropped since the pandemic and young people from Indigenous communities or with parents who have poor literacy or English skills aren't aware of it. Then there's vaccine hesitancy. The Cancer Council's Associate Professor Megan Smith is urging teenagers and parents to catch up on the free vaccine with a GP or pharmacist. Megan Smith: We don't want elimination to be something for some people. We want it to be a reality for everyone. Caitlyn Gribbin: Getting teens back on track to reach that goal is now Christine Walter's priority. As a parent and high school teacher, she has a powerful message for students avoiding the jab. Dr Frank Beard : You are so lucky to have this available to you. Without it, you could end up like me. Caitlyn Gribbin: The low uptake of the HPV vaccine is on the agenda of the Federal Government's recent National Immunisation Strategy. Isabella Higgins: Caitlin Gribbin reporting.
ABC News
16-06-2025
- Health
- ABC News
The HPV vaccine can prevent genital cancers, but fewer teens are getting the jab
Christine Walters was diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer when her daughter was just a baby. "I just remember looking at her and saying, you need to buy me more time. I literally do not care what I have to do to stay alive long enough that she will remember me," she said. Doctors gave Christine 12 months to live. That was 10 years ago. She counts her survival to date as a "miracle", despite not knowing how much time she has left. Cervical cancer is caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). Had the HPV vaccine been around when Christine was young, she believes she would have avoided her cancer diagnosis. As a secondary teacher, Christine now encourages her students to get the jab as part of the vaccine program rollout in schools. "They go, 'but it's a needle, Miss, it hurts'… I don't think a lot of people see that one little needle can protect you for something so significant as a cancer," she said. "I just tell them you are so lucky to have this available to you and without it, you could end up like me." It's a timely and cautionary message with experts revealing the uptake rate of the HPV vaccination is at its worst in almost a decade, according to the most recent data. "We're going in the wrong direction," said Frank Beard, associate director of the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS). The HPV vaccine, delivered in schools, is the frontline defence in shielding the body from HPV infection. HPV causes cervical cancer, genital, anal and oral cancers — as well as genital warts. It's the most common sexually transmitted viral infection and about 85 per cent of people who have been sexually active will get HPV at some stage of their life. Dr Beard said the most recent data should serve as a "reality check". "HPV vaccine coverage has decreased year on year for the last four years so that we're now back to where we were around a decade ago," he said. To achieve its cervical cancer elimination target, Australia needs to boost HPV vaccination coverage to at least 90 per cent of all adolescents, aged 15 years, by 2030. "The coverage has decreased by around 6 percentage points and we're now down to around 81 per cent for teenage girls and around 78 per cent for teenage boys," Dr Beard said. Overall, that means two in 10 adolescents have not had the vaccine by the time they should have. And for First Nations teens, it is three in 10. "We're not on track to meet our goals at this rate," he said. There are several barriers to young people getting the jab, including vaccine hesitancy and diminished accessibility, according to Megan Smith, chair of the Cancer Council's Cervical Cancer and HPV Group. School attendance rates have not returned to pre-pandemic levels, which, in part, explains the drop in vaccine coverage. But Associate Professor Smith said schools are not the only place to get the vaccine and if teenagers have missed out, they can "catch-up". "It is challenging getting teenagers to think ahead. But we want to talk to both the teenagers and to their parents and explain to them that this is a really effective and safe vaccine." Dr Beard said two years ago, Australia moved from two doses to a single dose of the vaccine, meaning there are now fewer chances for young people to get a catch-up jab. He said other barriers include parents with poor literacy or English skills, which can prevent consent forms from being signed, people living in rural and remote areas and socio-economic disadvantage. "Certainly, questions and concerns [about vaccines] are a significant part of the equation that need to be addressed in an appropriate and respectful manner," Dr Beard said. Christine is encouraging parents to make sure their teenagers get the vaccine. "I just say to everyone you need to do this for your children, it can save their life," she said. Immunotherapy has stopped Christine's cancer from progressing for longer than experts ever thought possible. She has so far defied her terminal diagnosis with the help of her daughter Mia, 12, husband Neil and their eight horses on their property two hours west of Brisbane. "I will probably die from cancer and that is the reality that we live with. And we live with it every day. My daughter lives with it, my husband lives with it, our family lives with it." And she will be making sure her daughter gets the vaccine as soon as she is eligible. "I think giving her the vaccine is just going to give her that armour and that peace of mind that she won't have to go through what she saw her mum go through," she said.
The Guardian
05-06-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Reading to children should be a pleasure
I was saddened to learn that gen Z parents don't read to their children because they don't have time, dislike having to read the same book over and over, don't enjoy reading books themselves or find it boring (2 June). It was one of my great joys to read to my daughter, though granted, there were no smartphones vying for her attention in the early McGovernEdinburgh 'I just don't have the energy to read to my kid' – what rubbish. If you don't have the energy to sit on the sofa next to your child and share a storybook together, what on earth did you have children for?Helen CluttonBristol Surely the reason men feel the need to claim the home office is that, given their known inabilities to multitask and adapt to new situations, they would achieve nothing if they were not sealed into their habitual working environment (Letters, 4 June). Women, on the other hand, just add doing the day job to the CowperSwansea If only Rachel Reeves shared Bernie Sanders' vision: 'We're going to take on the billionaire class. They're going to start paying their fair share of taxes' ('Saying Trump is dangerous is not enough': Bernie Sanders on Biden, billionaires – and why the Democrats failed, 4 June). Instead, austerity continues and the rich get ByrneLetchworth, Hertfordshire The wedding gift letters (3 June) remind me of an engagement present I received from my soon to be mother-in-law – a cookery book entitled Can She Cook? I WaltersBuxton, Derbyshire Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
