Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley last night announced agreements with the Generic Medicines industry Association (GMiA) and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia which will reduce the price of generic medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and lead to a greater involvement in public health service consultations on the part of pharmacists. [ + ]

The following article appeared on The Conversation and has been published below with permission. [ + ]

Calling all filmmakers: This year’s Tropfest has teamed up with the NPS MedicineWise to run a community service announcement film competition educating the public on the issue of antibiotic resistance. The winners will share a prize pool of $10,000 in cash. [ + ]

The NPS MedicineWise Choosing Wisely campaign was unveiled this week and while we will be covering it in our upcoming print edition, we have obtained an op-ed discussing the reasoning behind the initiative. [ + ]

The Australian Academy of Science (AAS) yesterday released a report detailing its concerns on the effects of climate change on Australians by the end of the century. Key concerns identified were weather; food and water availability; and jobs and livelihoods, [ + ]

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has welcomed today’s Federal Court decision that Advanced Medical Institute (AMI) had engaged in ‘unconscionable conduct’ in the provision of their men’s sexual dysfunction treatments. [ + ]

Darwin will host the 13th National Rural Health Conference next month with thanks to Australia’s most famous rural health provider, the Royal Flying Doctor Service. [ + ]

Aged and Community Services Australia (ACSA)'s latest position paper The Aged Care Workforce in Australia  says future challenges lie not in finding more workers but in developing new staffing models. [ + ]

How much confidence GPs have in providing nutritional advice to patients is the subject of research by Griffith University’s Dr Lauren Ball. [ + ]

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This week ( 23 - 27  March) is  Wound Awareness Week, raising public awareness of the epidemic of hard-to-heal wounds, which are a significant burden on the health care system. [ + ]

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Hospitals' incident data may have significant shortcomings, especially as a basis for monitoring safety over time and between sites, a comparative study at two Australian hospitals has found. [ + ]

Patients and their families in Queensland now have greater access to support thanks to PalAssist, a 24-hour helpline operated by the Cancer Council Queensland. [ + ]

The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia has responded to attacks on pharmacists integrity, calling them unfounded and unwarranted. [ + ]