twrama 1990_final oc.. - AMA WA

PRESIDENT’S DESK
Waiting, watching, vocal
by Dr Richard Choong
AMA (WA) President
It is always fascinating to see an idea take hold on the
public mind, especially an idea that the Australian
Medical Association (WA) has helped formulate and
advocate.
One of the great things as AMA (WA) President and
one of the things I have most enjoyed in my four months
in the job (yes, time is really going quickly!) is seeing the
huge range of issues your Association is involved in. We
are not just an industrial organisation, or public health
advocates, or a training group, or run Dr YES, or provide
investment advice to medical professionals. We seem to do
it all!
The debate on the health impact on Fly-in, Fly-out
(FIFO) and Drive-in, Drive-out (DIDO) is one of those
issues that has already had a major impact in terms of
stimulating debate. The AMA has taken the lead in talking
clearly about the short and long-term impact of FIFO and
DIDO on health – both individual health and the health
sector on a wider basis.
The solutions to this issue have yet to be finalised. Many
people at the moment seem to be waiting for solutions to
be suggested by the current Federal Parliament inquiry
into the issue.
However the long-waited-for (and now obviously
delayed) report will only keep the debate going and with a
Federal Election likely to be in the second half of 2013, any
government reaction to the recommendations is unlikely to
be seen until 2014 at the earliest.
The AMA has therefore been proposing potential
solutions to the issues since we raised them in 2011. It
has been interesting to see the way in which health issues
around FIFO have become a key topic for discussion and
debate.
I was invited recently to attend a FIFO Forum organised
by the Public Health Association at the University of WA
– which was an excellent way in which to keep the debate
going locally and to attempt to suggest some solutions
while we wait (and wait) for the Parliamentary inquiry to
report.
Such distinguished members of the WA medical
community as Tarun Weeramanthri, the Executive
Director, Public Health at the WA Health Department;
Professor Steve Allsop, Director of the National Drug
Research Institute; Gemma Crawford, president of
the Australian Health Promotion Association and Dr
Maryanne Doherty, Associate Professor of Sexology,
School of Public Health, Curtin University spent a
morning discussing FIFO health-related issues.
After hearing a number of papers on the issue, there
was an active discussion by participants on the subject
before breaking up into specific groups to discuss the most
important issues for each participant and their proposals
for next steps.
It perhaps wasn’t surprising but was certainly
encouraging when one participant in the Forum, who I did
not know, stood to make his comments on the issue and
quoted from the AMA (WA) submission submitted to the
Parliamentary Inquiry as indicating some of the ideas and
potential ways that health could be assisted.
One of the major outcomes of the forum was the clear
need for more research to be conducted within the FIFO
issue.
As we made it clear in the AMA submission to the
Parliamentary Inquiry, this is an area where research
is badly needed. There is, for example, still no clear or
trustworthy data on the numbers of FIFO workers; there
is no clear data on the health of FIFO/DIDO workers
in particular and there are virtually no
studies on the wider impact
of FIFO on families or
communities.
Interestingly there
are other conferences
being organised on
the issue and there …there are virtually
are a number of
no studies on the wider
research projects
currently getting impact of FIFO on
underway. The
families or communities
AMA is proud to
have played a small
part in attracting
attention on the issue.
I am proud to be
involved with, and President
of, an Association that has assisted in
creating debate about serious public health issues. We too
await with some expectations the recommendations of the
Parliamentary Inquiry.
White we wait however, we refuse to be quiet. We have
made a number of proposals not just for government
assistance but for ways in which the private sector,
especially mining companies can contribute. That is our
role in the West Australian and Australian society
and that is a role in the debate that I am proud to
continue. ■
2 MEDICUS October