ADOPTing a new method of partner management for genital chlamydia in New South Wales: findings from a pilot implementation program of patient-delivered partner therapy

Sexual Health ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Lorch ◽  
Christopher Bourne ◽  
Leanne Burton ◽  
Larissa Lewis ◽  
Katherine Brown ◽  
...  

Background Patient-delivered partner therapy (PDPT) for chlamydia is an effective and safe additional partner management strategy. Some Australian regulatory changes have been made to support PDPT, but implementation guidance is lacking. This paper describes a pilot implementation program of PDPT in New South Wales (NSW), the Australian Development and Operationalisation of Partner Therapy (ADOPT). Methods: ADOPT involved: (1) clarification of the NSW PDPT legal and policy framework; (2) development and implementation of PDPT service models, resources and data collection tools for select publicly funded sexual health services (PFSHS) and Family Planning (FP) NSW clinics; and (3) evaluation of PDPT uptake. Results: PDPT can be undertaken in NSW if accompanied by adequate provider, patient and partner information. Regulatory amendments enabled medication prescribing. The pilot implementation took place in four PFSHS and five FPNSW clinics from January to December 2016. In PFSHS, 30% of eligible patients were offered PDPT and 89% accepted the offer. In FPNSW clinics, 42% of eligible patients were offered PDPT and 63% accepted the offer. Most partners for whom PDPT was accepted were regular partners. Conclusions: A close collaboration of researchers, policy makers and clinicians allowed successful implementation of a PDPT model for chlamydia in heterosexual patients at select PFSHS and FPNSW clinics, providing guidance on its use as standard of care. However, for the full public health benefits of PDPT to be realised, it must be implemented in general practice, where most chlamydia is diagnosed. Further work is recommended to explore feasibility, develop guidelines and promote the integration of PDPT into general practice.

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 63
Author(s):  
Fei Lai ◽  
Shubha Srinivasan ◽  
Veronica Wiley

In Australia, all newborns born in New South Wales (NSW) and the Australia Capital Territory (ACT) have been offered screening for rare congenital conditions through the NSW Newborn Screening Programme since 1964. Following the development of the Australian Newborn Bloodspot Screening National Policy Framework, screening for congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) was included in May 2018. As part of the assessment for addition of CAH, the national working group recommended a two-tier screening protocol determining 17α-hydroxyprogesterone (17OHP) concentration by immunoassay followed by steroid profile. A total of 202,960 newborns were screened from the 1 May 2018 to the 30 April 2020. A threshold level of 17OHP from first tier immunoassay over 22 nmol/L and/or top 2% of the daily assay was further tested using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) steroid profiling for 17OHP (MS17OHP), androstenedione (A4) and cortisol. Samples with a ratio of (MS17OHP + A4)/cortisol > 2 and MS17OHP > 200 nmol/L were considered as presumptive positive. These newborns were referred for clinical review with a request for diagnostic testing and a confirmatory repeat dried blood spot (DBS). There were 10 newborns diagnosed with CAH, (9 newborns with salt wasting CAH). So far, no known false negatives have been notified, and the protocol has a sensitivity of 100%, specificity of 99.9% and a positive predictive value of 71.4%. All confirmed cases commenced treatment by day 11, with none reported as having an adrenal crisis by the start of treatment.


2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark F Harris ◽  
Fakhrul Md Islam ◽  
Bin Jalaludin ◽  
Jack Chen ◽  
Adrian E Bauman ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ron Haering ◽  
Vanessa Wilson ◽  
Annie Zhuo ◽  
Peter Stathis

ABSTRACT The views of veterinary professionals were surveyed to inform the New South Wales Government about the extent, cost and nature of services they provide to free-living native animals and their interactions with the volunteer wildlife rehabilitation sector. Our aim was to better understand the challenges faced by veterinarians and veterinary nurses and the veterinary practices they work from. The survey was part of an extensive review of the New South Wales wildlife rehabilitation sector to inform strategic improvements to volunteer standards and service delivery. We found New South Wales private veterinary practices and their staff provide an essential network of support for the rehabilitation of sick and injured free-living native animals. Nearly all responding private veterinary practices provided some type of service pro-bono. The annual value of free services and products was estimated to be $1,038,650. Reported average weekly animal caseload was about five with birds the most frequent patients. Cost of services was the main challenge faced by practices, followed by knowledge and skill of staff. Veterinarians and veterinary nurses considered their formal training to not be very useful in teaching skills relevant to free-living native animals and sought further professional development opportunities in animal assessment, treatment and rehabilitation techniques. Most respondents were satisfied with the standard of care afforded to native animals by volunteers. Complaints focused on delays in native animal pick-ups and communication with practice staff. We make recommendations for improving veterinary capacity and strengthening relationships with the volunteer wildlife rehabilitation sector.


Climate ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Rebecca Cunningham ◽  
Brent Jacobs ◽  
Thomas G. Measham

Climate change is a significant challenge for policy makers, planners and communities. While adaptation responses are generally recognised to be place-based, policy processes on adaptation often reside with central (state or national) governments that may be remote from regional communities. In this paper, we contribute to the literature regarding how diverse regional communities engage with planning and policy for climate adaptation, which is important for successful implementation. We adopt a social network analysis (SNA) approach that enables an exploration of the interaction of community networks with policy information. There are limited empirical studies of information sharing about climate adaptation policy through community knowledge networks. One previous study, located in coastal New South Wales, Australia, mapped the community’s knowledge acquisition and diffusion to reveal the underlying network structures that influenced policy engagement pathways. However, further studies are needed to determine how the features of community networks may change with local context (e.g., coastal versus inland). This paper extends previous studies to compare and contrast adaptation knowledge networks in three NSW communities: Shoalhaven (the original coastal study site), Bega (coastal) and Orange (inland). Findings suggest that the presence of a natural resource-dependent industry, local geographies and boundary spanners acting as network knowledge brokers are factors influencing community knowledge flows. The work further demonstrates the utility of SNA to measure knowledge networks that can inform government engagement and communication with communities on climate adaptation policy.


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