In the News

NDIS: Inequality for the aged

Dr Peter Freckleton, Hampton

Letter to the Age Published May 11th 2019

The National Disability Insurance Scheme was a life-changing idea but before it got going, it was sullied by irrational ageism – the exclusion of the over-65s. A prima facie offence against the Age Discrimination Act so obvious that the act was hastily changed to outlaw complaints.

Particularly anomalous is the rejection of survivors of poliomyelitis. That was a childhood condition yet survivors are shunted onto aged care, which is illogical. Polio is not age-related, and aged care packages are a mirage. People die waiting for them. This discrimination was driven by penny-pinching, not reason, because polio as a medical condition logically falls within the NDIS. Requirements are clearly definable and modest, and the group involved is finite. The dreaded “floodgates” would not be opened by NDIS coverage.

Ron Bell’s Stance Control KAFO Orthotics

Our President, Ron Bell, was first Australian to be fitted with a Stance Control KAFO in 2005 by Doctor Darren Pereira. His remarkable improvement is documented in these Youtube videos.

He talks about the Orthotic and how it works in this video

It shouldn’t all be up to us to educate and inform: Improving Hospital Risks for Post polio patients.

Liz Telford and Fleur Rubens Polio Oz Summer Edition 2016

Since PPV was established five years ago, in response to people’s concerns about reduced services and lack of information, many stories have been shared about hospital and other medical experiences. These have included misdiagnoses, anesthesia issues, respiratory difficulties after surgery, inappropriate after surgery care, spinal injury following surgery and even unexpected deaths.

Continue reading It shouldn’t all be up to us to educate and inform: Improving Hospital Risks for Post polio patients.

What is happening to patients who have had polio? The role of the patient in assessment and management

PPV’s Margaret Cooper’s Article was first published in Australian Family Physician Volume 45, No.7, July 2016 Pages 529­-530.

Patients who have had polio in the past can present as a challenge to clinical assessment. The majority of these patients are older than 60 years of age and may report a range of symptoms that relate to impairment progression in the form of post­polio syndrome but could also be secondary health conditions, age­related concerns or an unrelated health matter. Factors involved in the management of patients who have had polio include careful diagnosis, recognition of adaptive strategies and enhancement of the patient’s self­care skills.

Read the full article here

ABC News: Australia’s forgotten disability – Post Polio Syndrome

Published on Nov 1, 2015

POST POLIO SYNDROME: AUSTRALIA’S FORGOTTEN DISABILITY

The World Health Organisation declared Australia polio free in 2000. But the disease is still very much with us.

It’s estimated there are 400,000 Australian polio survivors. And for thousands, the disease is not finished. Decades after they contracted polio, symptoms can return in the form of Post Polio Syndrome (PPS).

Polio alert is critical

Liz Telford and Fleur Rubens letter to The Age was published on August 18, 2015

Julia Medew highlights errors in clinical management that have occurred in our hospitals with some devastating outcomes (“Hundreds of patients’ deaths preventable”, 15/8). A lack of medical knowledge is another cause. Here is a real example. In 2011, a man died unexpectedly in a major hospital a month after surgery. He had a history of polio. A surgical error considered minor (as it is for someone without post polio) combined with inappropriate post-surgery care (due to hospital ignorance of post-polio management) resulted in respiratory failure. The cause of death was given as “post polio”, although it was not the disease process but clinical management that caused this man’s preventable death.

Anyone who contracted polio, whether paralysed or not (an estimated 400,000 Australians) may develop post polio, a condition that may affect the central nervous and respiratory systems. One Victorian hospital now has a polio medical alert for patients known to have had polio. All hospitals need to do the same, and patients should alert staff if they ever contracted polio. Despite the successful global polio eradication campaign, post polio will be around for decades to come and hospital staff must be educated.

Polio Australia’s Gillian Thomas on ABC’s Q&A with Bill Gates

Polio Australia is delighted to advise that our Vice President, Gillian Thomas, has been invited to be in the audience of a “Special ABC TV Q&A Forum” being televised on Tuesday 28 May, 2013 with “Bill Gates.”

Gates will be speaking on the important issue of ‘Investment in Global Health and Development’ at the University of New South Wales in the Clancy Auditorium, UNSW Kensington campus.

We recommend you watch what is sure to be a very interesting episode of Q&A if you get the chance.