The Latest Breaking News from the National Health and Medical Research Council

Overnight, we learned of the tragic passing of Michael Mosley, who went missing last week while on holiday on the Greek island of Symi.

The Australian Capital Territory parliament passed its voluntary assisted dying law yesterday by 20 to five.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is already being used in health care. AI can look for patterns in medical images to help diagnose disease. It can help predict who in a hospital ward might deteriorate. It can rapidly summarise medical research papers to help doctors stay up-to-date with the latest evidence.

From today, eligible people in New South Wales can ask for voluntary assisted dying.

Health-care professionals have recently called on the Queensland government to mandate fluoride in drinking water across the state, where water fluoridation coverage lags behind other Australian states and territories.

Too many Australian children are eating diets high in added sugars, saturated fats, salt, energy and ultra-processed foods. And often they’re not getting enough fruits, vegetables and wholegrains.

Ask any parent and it’s likely they’ll tell you they’re worried about their kids’ screen time. A 2021 poll found it was Australian parents’ number one health concern for their kids – ahead of cyberbullying and unhealthy diets. But how worried should parents be?

Australia is now into its next COVID wave. We’ve seen hints of this for a while. Case numbers and indicators of severe disease began rising in Victoria in August. But it has taken several months for a consistent pattern to emerge across Australia.

The first Australian Capital Territory voluntary assisted dying bill in more than 25 years was tabled in parliament yesterday.