The latest edition of The Health Wrap is out! And there’s an invite to join me to celebrate a big birthday - there’s bound to be lots of talk about hiking, policy and politics. www.croakey.org/the-health-w...

Ping @croakeynews.bsky.social @melissasweetdr.bsky.social

High-stakes battle over skyrocketing doctors’ fees In 2019 Jennifer Doggett and I offered roadmap for addressing OOP costs including specialist fees. It still has currency apo.org.au/sites/defaul... www.theaustralian.com.au/health/medic...

An important question: Will the Victorian Government now shy away from supporting public health research and advocacy that shines a light on some of its own shortcomings?? www.croakey.org/shock-and-al...

Remarkable story of a Georgia high school team who used CRISPR to make a rapid diagnostic test strip for Lyme disease, speeding dx from 2 weeks to days www.cbsnews.com/news/teens-m...

Massi, L, Smith, D, Ahmed, S M, Weatherall, L, Friday, R, Dorey, E, Wheeler, K, Fredericks, B, Toombs, M & Rae, K M. 2025. The Indigenous Health Research Priorities Study Report for #Rockhampton 2025. Brisbane, Australia: UQ: doi.org/10.14264/506..., espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:5068...

Almost time for #LessonsFromWales with Prof Liz Green, Public Health Wales Consultant in Public Health, Policy and International Health and Program Director for Health Impact Assessment

Looking forward to this event tomorrow: I’ll be attending and reporting for Croakey Conference News Service @croakeynews.bsky.social Follow #LessonsFromWales Wellbeing for Future Generations: Lessons from Wales and Building HIA Capacity in Australia UNSW Sydney share.google/1UwVKCVXURvw...

Women's hidden extra work, positive tipping points and new thinking on autism – there's much to chew on in this year's best reads, says Liz Else

Ping @melissasweetdr.bsky.social

Spinning vortices of water trapped under the Thwaites glacier ice shelf account for 20 per cent of the ice melt. They’re expected to get worse as the world warms

In inner city Balmain we are daily delighted and sometimes irritated by the demands of two fledgling Butcher Birds in their poor besieged parent (are there any worms left in my garden?). It’s a bad photo - but evokes the ongoing dramas.

Book lovers. Life lovers! Forthwith I shall post a book a day, books I’ve read this year. Books I’ve loved & have intrigued me, changed me, occasionally books I’ve wondered if I could marry. Maybe books YOU might love. And remember, dearests of the world, how GREAT books make for Christmas presents

Oh joy! A friend came bearing gifts.

In India rapid decline in vulture population means increase in wild dogs, more dog bites, and thousands of additional deaths from rabies. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

Doing some research and this paper - written in 2008 - turned up. I’m debating updating it but wonder how easy that would be as transparency has definitely not improved. Suspect these findings still hold true. Comments?

At what point will the press corps, as a chorus, in unison, just shout back, “THATS NOT TRUE”! What are we doing?

Cheap and unhealthy foods are set to become further entrenched in the Australian diet, according to health experts. Reporting by Melissa Davey and Natasha May. Read the full story. 🔗👉 www.theguardian.com/australia-ne... 📷: Anastasiia Krivenok / Getty Images

Two years after it was delivered, the National Health and Climate Strategy remains unfunded, and it's unclear who is responsible for its implementation. We need urgent action now. @croakeynews.bsky.social www.croakey.org/federal-gove...

What an interesting idea

Frikkin amazing stuff.

Very pleased to see that @greens.org.au have won an inquiry into job cuts at CSIRO Would be great to see attention brought to bear on restructuring (cuts?) at the Australian Research Council too Why these attacks on science in the public interest in Australia❓ Who does this serve❓

“‘Deathly silent’: two out of three corals in world heritage-listed Ningaloo reef have been killed, scientists confirm.” www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, marking the start of @UN_Women’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based violence. Violence against women is a global crisis. Nearly one in three women will experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime.

Scientists recorded 47% drop in breeding females in South Georgia’s three largest elephant seal colonies after bird flu hit. Scaled to whole island, that’s potential loss of 50,000 animals. www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/b...

This study found that 'among individuals with a known history of #SARSCoV2 infection, 5% had a profile characterized by a persistently high #LongCOVID related symptom burden, an additional 12% had intermittently high burden of symptoms that did not improve over time.' www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Albanese Govt failure to progress oral health policy is exacerbating health inequities & contributing to preventable illness, suffering & hospitalisations. Where is new National Oral Health Plan? www.croakey.org/is-oral-heal...

Arriving into Ushuaia in the early morning. A lovely end to a glorious Antarctic #ShackeltonFootsteps adventure. Thanks for following along.

Polar bears took shelter inside an abandoned research station on Russia’s remote Kolyuchin Island. See photos by the photographer Vadim Makhorov, who found them while recently cruising on the Chukchi Sea. Via The Atlantic Photo:

Last day at sea; we disembark tomorrow at Ushuaia. We are mesmerised by sea birds, including albatross, constantly around the ship (impossible to photograph with phone). In a few hours we will sail within 3 nautical miles of Cape Horn, then go on to enter the Beagle Channel. #ShackeltonFootsteps

Halfway back from South Georgia to Ushuaia. A busy day with talks, photo competition and just a little work in preparation for return to the real world. Surprisingly calm seas now giving way to promised storm. #ShackeltonFootsteps

Interesting! www.healthservicesdaily.com.au/could-leaked...

Four key agencies unite to drive prevention of chronic diseases nationally – Marina Bowshall, Robyn Littlewood, Anna Peeters and Carina Tan-Van Baren, PACE Forum www.croakey.org/four...

Kids' smoking in Oz is at record lows thx to comprehensive tobacco control. But since 2010, the rate of decline has slowed while vaping rose. Explains why all BigTobacco companies have invested in vapes mja.com.au/system/files...

NEW: Protecting public interested journalism as a public health good by Bronwyn Fredericks, Neha Lalchandani, Melissa Sweet, Alex Cramb, & Carmel Williams in the Medical Journal of Australia - onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.5694/... FREE Access. 👈🏽 #PublicHealth #PublicInterest #Journalism

Now acutely aware of the damage bird flu is inflicting on the elephant seals on South Georgia. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

How do you make a documentary about a subject that predates the invention of photography? @kenlburns.bsky.social, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt on what it took to film “The American Revolution”:

It's goodbye to the wonderful Antarctic / subAntarctic regions as we leave South Georgia for three days of sailing through rough seas back to Ushuaia. #ShackeltonFootsteps

"..the first known human H5N5 infection has captured a good deal of attention, but the `other' flu story we've been following this week has been the rapid spread of a new seasonal H3N2 subcade (K) virus, which emerged in the Southern Hemisphere" afludiary.blogspot.com/2025/11/cdc-...

Good morning from Grytviken, South Georgia. We are here to explore the whaling history, pay homage at the graves of Shackelton and Wild - and there's a wedding! Two of our fellow explorers are getting married in the little church and we are all invited! #ShackeltonFootsteps

Remains of a glorious day at Cumberland Bay, South Georgia Island. The Neumyer Glacier here is retreating very fast. #ShackeltonFootsteps

Good morning from St Andrews Bay, South Georgia Island. Looks like fresh snow overnight but weather now clearing, maybe sunshine. Preparing to go ashore - lots of penguins.

A 3:30am wakeup call for 4:00am zodiac trip to Salisbury Plain - largest penguin colony on South Georgia. Lots of king & gentoo penguins (moulting), seals + pups, sealions (aggressive). Seas calm but a steady rain. #ShackeltonFootsteps

PODCAST: Former high court judge the Hon Michael Barker KC interviews Prof Megan Davis AC - podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/c..., Centre for Public Integrity, 23 October 2025. ✅

Good morning from South Georgia Island! Up at 3:30am for 4:00am zodiac to Salisbury Plain, biggest penguin colony on SGI. In Feb this will be too crowded w wildlife to land. Lots of king & gentoo penguins (moulting), seals + pups, sea lions (aggressive). Calm seas but rain. #ShackeltonFootsteps

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Good morning from South Georgia Island as we sail up King Haakon Sound to Pegetty Bluff. Shackelton pulled in here after his epic crossing from Elephant Island. #ShackeltonFootsteps

It took us almost 3 hours to sail past this iceberg! #SheackeltonFootsteps