What are better, public or private hospitals?

Mar 17, 2016 23:03 pm UTC| Insights & Views Health

Around half of Australians have private health insurance. So if they need to go to hospital, they may have the option of going public or private. Although some people try to research their options extensively, its a...

Do you really need to go to hospital? Time to recentre the health system

Mar 17, 2016 23:01 pm UTC| Insights & Views Health

Hospitals dominate our health-care system and account for more than one-third of Australias A$150 billion-plus health budget. Pressure is growing on hospital services and costs are spiralling. This is because of the...

Sorry Jamie Oliver, I'd be surprised if sugar tax helped cut obesity

Mar 17, 2016 22:42 pm UTC| Health

It was Benjamin Franklin who said only two things in life are certain: death and taxes. Actually taxes are anything but certain, and what is definitely not certain is how people will respond to them. Unintended...

Ten more myths about smoking that will not die

Mar 17, 2016 01:51 am UTC| Health

Last week, I wrote about factoid-driven myths that just refuse to die. In less than a week, the piece has had more than 1.184 million readers. Theres plainly a big appetite for smoking myth busting, so here are 10...

Remember: a bad memory is actually good for you

Mar 17, 2016 00:15 am UTC| Health

Its not uncommon to hear people wishing that they had a better memory. If only I werent so forgetful, they complain. If only I could reliably remember my computer password, and that my neighbours name is Sarah, not Sandra....

COVID Virus Crisis

Zika and abortion: will the virus prompt Latin America to rethink abortion and birth control?

Mar 16, 2016 14:24 pm UTC| Health

Alexandra Minna Stern, Professor of American Culture, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Womens Studies; Director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and the Brazil Initiative, University of Michigan The...

We still don't really know the health hazards of a nuclear accident

Mar 16, 2016 14:16 pm UTC| Health

Five years after the nuclear disaster in Fukushima and 30 years after the Chernobyl accident, scientists are still disagreeing about the impact on human health such as how many people have got cancer as a result and how...