Monash University at the forefront of consumer rights in public health
World Consumer Rights Day (March 15) is an annual occasion for celebration and solidarity within the international consumer movement—a movement that is vital in public health and medicine. The theme for 2016 is antibiotic resistance.
Monash University’s Adjunct Associate Professor Ken Harvey has been involved in combating antibiotic resistance for over 30 years. He was a founding member, and at various times author, Chair of the Antibiotic Writing Group and Board Member of Therapeutic Guidelines Limited. Recognising that pharmaceutical promotion was also a driving force for inappropriate antibiotic use, he has also been a prolific campaigner for truth in drug advertising.
Dr Harvey is an organiser and speaker at a seminar on the Advertising of Therapeutic Goods and Services to be held at the University of Sydney on March 17, 2016; one of a series of events celebrating WCRD.
“The seminar will explore the number of current policy issues associated with the advertising of therapeutic goods and services in Australia that warrant debate,” Associate Professor Harvey said.
Associate Professor Harvey, from the Monash University School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, has a long-standing research interest in medicinal drug policy and, more recently the promotion of complementary and alternative medicine.
“Few consumers understand that most complementary medicines (labelled AUST L) are not evaluated by the Therapeutic Goods Administration to see if they work. In addition, there are no effective sanctions for misleading promotion,” Associate Professor Harvey said.
He said that the escalating use of vitamins and supplements represents a triumph of marketing hype over science and that mandatory labelling of complementary medicines (‘this product has not been evaluated by Australian health authorities to see if it works’), as well as legislation for timely and meaningful sanctions for advertising violations should be introduced.
“There is also a need for increased and better targeted post-marketing surveillance and reporting by the Therapeutic Goods Administration,” Associate Professor Harvey said.
In addition, there is concern that some groups of health professionals have uncritically embraced diagnostic and therapeutic modalities that lack evidence and put consumers at risk. At the forthcoming seminar, Associate Professor Harvey will present a case study of unlawful advertising claims made by chiropractic clinics and the belated response by the Chiropractic Board of Australia to address such claims.
The School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash has organised and supported the seminar together with the University of Sydney, the Foundation for Effective Markets and Governance, Choice (Australian Consumers’ Organisation) and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Civil society organisations represented include the Consumers Health Forum, Friends of Science in Medicine, Australian Skeptics, Doctors Reform Society and Stop the Australian (Anti) Vaccination Network.
Monash University Public Health School
With diverse leadership, across four campuses, the Monash University School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine is the faculty’s principal source of skills in epidemiology (including clinical epidemiology), biostatistics and large scale clinical data-management. The school emphasizes expertise in large epidemiological studies, multicentre clinical trials, clinical registries, evidence synthesis and health social science.
The Master of Public Health a 12-unit public health program provides students with the full range of quantitative, analytical and communication skills necessary to work in the broad domain of public health. It especially focuses on developing skills in the quantitative methods of the population-based health sciences and their problem-solving application for primary care provision both in Australia and for developing countries.
Health specialisation streams are offered in
- Clinical Research Methods
- Health Economics
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Program: Master of Public Health
Location: Melbourne, Victoria
Semester intake: February
Duration: 1.5 years
Application deadline: While there is no set application deadline, applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their applications a minimum of three months prior to the program’s start date.
Entry Requirements: Applicants must have completed an undergraduate degree. With an application, students should also submit a 250-word statement of purpose outlining their area of interest and the reason why they would like to complete the course, and an updated curriculum vitae/resume outlining relevant work experience.
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