Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has pledged to take direct responsibility for Indigenous Policy…

TONY ABBOTT: Under an incoming Coalition government, Indigenous affairs will be handled within the department of prime minister and cabinet. There will be, in effect, a prime minister for Aboriginal affairs.

… in a speech given to the Sydney Institute on April 15th.

While there was not much detail it certainly sounds impressive. A Prime Minister forcing improvements in Indigenous lives, closing the gap. But what sort of people would in effect be running the portfolio?

On April 18th at a Qantas function his Director of Policy Dr Mark Roberts made a throat-slitting motion and threatened to “cut the throat” of funding to Andrew Penfold the CEO of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation.

Not only that, but when he realised there was a witness, Peter van Onselon, Mr Roberts apparently offered to become a deep throat from within Abbott’s office if van Onselon kept his mouth shut.

The possible Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs only action was to not sack but only demote his Director of Policy.

Makes me wonder how Indigenous Affairs will progress under Abbott.

Radical Sun singing “Lust” at the Wadeye Festival in 2012.

During Reconciliation week last year Triple J had The Herd, Radical Son, Sky High and Nooky. They performed a version of Sam Sam Cooke’s song “A Change Is Gonna Come”.

Kerrianne Cox with “Beagle Bay Dreaming”

A four piece acoustic band known as Moana Dreaming is today’s interlude.

Ulla Shay who was featured last week is also part of this band.

The song: Desert Feet

Ulla Shay, previously known as Candice Lorrae was Perth’s NAIDOC ‘Artist of the Year’ in 2012.

Here is a number of her songs from her cd launch in May 2012.

The Last Kinection has been mentioned in the blog a few times.

Here they are singing “Happy People” with some help from Lotek

Busby Marou is a great sounding duo from Queensland.

The song is “Biding My Time”

Here’s the Lajamanu Teenage Band with some help from the Bush Mechanics.

The song is “Wiyappa wanti jalu”

Thelma Plum is only 17. She was discovered in mid 2012 in a Triple J competition for new indigenous talent. She is a wonderful singer

Here she is with “Time and Waiting”.

Earlier today I put up a video of zebra finches trying to escape the heat. Here’s some more hiding in a wood heap. Apologies for the hum. I mounted the camera on top of the air conditioner.

It’s been hot this summer in outback Australia. Our average this month will be 5C more than the usual January average at about 44C.

The animals out here are really feeling it. Especially the bird life. My veranda has become a refuge mainly for zebra finches but also a few budgies and other birds. Half a dozen finches are dying each day along with a peregrine falcon, an immature crow and owl and a few budgies. There are owls flying into my trees through daylight as the trees in my yard have thicker leaf cover than those in the bush without a drop to drink.

I have a veranda around three sides of the house with masses of zebra finches along two sides. Here’s a short video with the zebra finches in one corner taking off when my troopie goes past and a second flight when the dingo runs up to the veranda.

Global climate change continues to be the subject of international debate, which has included concern about the health impacts of climate change. Attention has also focused on the impact of ‘heat waves’ on morbidity and mortality.

Over 70,000 additional deaths were recorded in 12 European countries over the summer of 2003 during a prolonged heatwave – after this, a number of related papers were published in medical literature, including some that specifically looked at the potential for increased harm from medicine use during the heatwaves.

A number of countries including Australia have since operationalised ‘National Heat Wave Plans.’ In Australia individual states having developed specific information for to help people to manage in heatwaves, including SA Health’s “Extreme Heat – guide to coping and staying healthy in the heat.”

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A joint initiative of the Patient Services Section and the Drug and Therapeutics Information Service of the Pharmacy Department, Repatriation General Hospital, Daw Park, South Australia. The RGH Pharmacy E-Bulletin is distributed in electronic format on a weekly basis, and aims to present concise, factual information on issues of current interest in therapeutics, drug safety and cost-effective use of medications.
Editor: Assoc. Prof. Chris Alderman, University of South Australia – Director of Pharmacy, RGH © Pharmacy Department, Repatriation General Hospital, Daw Park, South Australia 5041.

Does this normally occur when you go shopping?

Frankie Jackson goes shopping for Devon and sauce but security won’t leave him alone.

Coz I’m Aboriginal (parody of One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful”)

The 12th Rural Health Conference is on in Adelaide from April 7th-10th. I’ll be going and if you have an interest in rural health I hope you are as well.

There are a number of pre-conference workshops. The Medicines in the Bush workshop held on Sunday April 7th is one of these. I’ll be presenting and quite possibly talking a bit. If you are a rural or remote pharmacist I hope to see you at the workshop.

Download the flyer:

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Farnesyltransferase inhibitors (FTIs) are a new class of biologically active agents originally developed as potential anticancer drugs, and are currently unavailable in Australia.

FTIs inhibit the enzyme farnesyltransferase, preventing the farnesylation and hence activation of a wide range of target proteins, including Ras (which is mutated in 30 % of all human cancers), ultimately resulting in cell growth arrest. In preclinical models, farnesyl transferase inhibitors showed great potency as a novel anti-cancer agent; yet in clinical studies, the early potential of FTIs were not realised.

This was attributed to several reasons: the molecular pharmacology and biology of FTIs had not yet been fully elucidated, an escape mechanism for the inhibition by FTIs was discovered (known as geranylgeranylation) and a well-defined proof of the concept of clinical studies was lacking.

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A joint initiative of the Patient Services Section and the Drug and Therapeutics Information Service of the Pharmacy Department, Repatriation General Hospital, Daw Park, South Australia. The RGH Pharmacy E-Bulletin is distributed in electronic format on a weekly basis, and aims to present concise, factual information on issues of current interest in therapeutics, drug safety and cost-effective use of medications.
Editor: Assoc. Prof. Chris Alderman, University of South Australia – Director of Pharmacy, RGH © Pharmacy Department, Repatriation General Hospital, Daw Park, South Australia 5041.

The use of therapeutic drug monitoring for clozapine is indicated in various situations, including poor compliance, inadequate response to treatment, presence of significant adverse effects, the presence of specific disease states (especially hepatic disease) and where there may be drug interactions.

In clinical practice, the dose of clozapine is usually adjusted to provide plasma concentrations of 350 – 600micrograms per litre. However some patients may respond to lower concentrations, or conversely may experience limiting adverse effects despite concentrations in the recommended range.

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A joint initiative of the Patient Services Section and the Drug and Therapeutics Information Service of the Pharmacy Department, Repatriation General Hospital, Daw Park, South Australia. The RGH Pharmacy E-Bulletin is distributed in electronic format on a weekly basis, and aims to present concise, factual information on issues of current interest in therapeutics, drug safety and cost-effective use of medications.
Editor: Assoc. Prof. Chris Alderman, University of South Australia – Director of Pharmacy, RGH © Pharmacy Department, Repatriation General Hospital, Daw Park, South Australia 5041.

The treatment of Parkinson’s disease often requires the use of multiple agents to achieve optimal symptom control with minimal side effects.

The mainstay of treatment is levodopa, however the development of movement disorders occurs with long term treatment. In younger patients, therefore, it may be preferable to reserve levodopa for use later in the course of disease progression. Also, in patients taking long term levodopa, additional therapies may help to reduce motor fluctuations.

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Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) encompasses the spectrum of unstable angina and myocardial infarction, with or without ST elevation.

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) including coronary stenting is often performed in this context. Both ACS and PCI are associated with high levels of platelet activation, and thus dual-antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and clopidogrel is essential after coronary stent implantation to reduce the risk of thrombosis.

A longer duration of dual-antiplatelet therapies is often required after implantation of drug-eluting stents due to delayed endothelialisation, but the optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapies and the associated risk-benefit ratio is not well defined.

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A joint initiative of the Patient Services Section and the Drug and Therapeutics Information Service of the Pharmacy Department, Repatriation General Hospital, Daw Park, South Australia. The RGH Pharmacy E-Bulletin is distributed in electronic format on a weekly basis, and aims to present concise, factual information on issues of current interest in therapeutics, drug safety and cost-effective use of medications.
Editor: Assoc. Prof. Chris Alderman, University of South Australia – Director of Pharmacy, RGH © Pharmacy Department, Repatriation General Hospital, Daw Park, South Australia 5041.