At least half of healthcare associated infections are thought to be preventable. Data from Australia and overseas show that the rate of healthcare associated infections is reduced when specific interventions are put in place and maintained. These interventions also reduce the risk of developing resistant infectious agents and control the spread of healthcare associated infections to other people, such as patients and healthcare professionals. [ + ]

Researchers have started the world’s biggest  technology trial looking at whether computer games, iPad apps and interactive can can aid in rehabilitation from falls, strokes and brain injuries. [ + ]

In a bid to ban pharmaceutical company representatives from “educational” visits to their practices, Australian doctors have established a No Advertising Please campaign. [ + ]

Australia's first National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health has been established to help find new and innovative treatments to better the lives of young people. [ + ]

Queensland and Victoria have announced their finalists in the 2015 Australian of the Year Awards, with health professionals, lobbyists and philanthropists well represented. [ + ]

The gap in quality of health between the most advantaged and most disadvantaged Australians persists, according to new national figures released today by University of Adelaide public health researchers. [ + ]

People living in regional, rural and remote Queensland will be given access to a new Heart of Australia mobile clinic that will provide quality cardiac and respiratory care. [ + ]

Patients have begun moving into the new State Rehabilitation Service at Fiona Stanley Hospital today. [ + ]

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Australian and New Zealand patients with sepsis can be confident they are getting the best treatment in the world. [ + ]

A new smartphone app developed by CSIRO is giving  heart attack patients a better chance at completing life-saving rehabilitation. [ + ]

The international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières is urging Australia to send trained emergency medical personnel to fight Ebola in West Africa. [ + ]

More than 1.4 million women aged 50-69 had a screening mammogram through BreastScreen Australia in 2011 and 2012, according to the BreastScreen Australia monitoring report 2011-2012,  released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). [ + ]

The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed the first case of Ebola to be diagnosed in the United States. [ + ]

A large genetic study, published today in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal, has concluded there is no evidence of a causal link between a person’s vitamin D levels, and whether they develop type 2 diabetes. [ + ]