Posts by VIVA! Communications
First treatment in 10 years PBS listed for Aussies
living with aggressive stomach & oesophageal cancers
Australians living with types of aggressive stomach or oesophageal cancers can now access immunotherapy on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), representing the first treatment advance for many of these patients in a decade. OPDIVO® (nivolumab) in combination with chemotherapy, is now reimbursed as an initial treatment for patients with a type of stomach or oesophageal…
Read MoreCelebrating two decades of health + wellness communications
Today marks an important milestone in the history of VIVA! Communications. I founded the health + wellness communications agency two decades ago today, after working for a number of multi-national PR agencies in Australia, and in various in-house comms-related roles. Armed with brazen ambition, a passion for health and wellness, an unquenchable thirst for independence,…
Read More9 in 10 Australians with deadly heart valve disease not undergoing treatment
Non-surgical treatment now available on Medicare Of the estimated 66,500 Australians living with aortic stenosis, 9 in 10 are not undergoing treatment each year for the potentially life-threatening disease. However, the inclusion of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) on Medicare from July 1, 2022, is expanding access to the minimally invasive treatment option for all…
Read MoreAussie men with advanced prostate cancer denied access to innovative treatment on Medicare
Almost 20,000 Australian men diagnosed each year with prostate cancer are being denied access to an innovative treatment on Medicare for the nation’s most common cancer in men. Two treatment options – low dose rate brachytherapy (LDR-brachytherapy) and external beam radiation therapy – are approved to treat prostate cancer in Australia by the medical regulator,…
Read MoreThe APCO Bone Health QI Tool Kit – Putting a brake on fractures in the world’s most populous & fastest ageing region
An osteoporotic fracture occurs every three seconds worldwide.1 With more than 50 per cent of the world’s hip fractures expected to occur in the Asia Pacific (AP) region over the next two decades,2 the Asia Pacific Consortium on Osteoporosis (APCO) has launched a Bone Health QI Tool Kit today(May 24, 2022), to promote quality improvement…
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