HEPATITIS C infection rates in Frankston, the Mornington Peninsula and neighbouring Casey are among the highest in Australia, with people who used drugs in the 1970s and 80s emerging as the highest risk group to have the blood-born virus. A recently released report shows that almost 2600 residents from the three south-eastern suburbs were treated for the illness last year, a ten-fold increase in previous years. But Frankston specialist Dr David Badov says the numbers are promising, revealing a new trend in sufferers seeking treatment with cheaper medications that are 98 per cent effective. Dr Badov, who is head of…
Author: Liz Bell
A FRANKSTON-based legal service that has helped thousands of low-income clients to access free legal advice and representation will be forced to turn away clients when the federal government cuts funding by 30 per cent in July. Peninsula Community Legal Centre has provided legal advice to 7966 cash-strapped or vulnerable clients since opening 40 years ago, but now fears for its future and is pleading for the government to reverse its decision and restore the funding. The government has faced fierce opposition from legal centres around the country since it announced last year it would slash funding by millions from…
MORNINGTON’S The Bays Hospital is the first Victorian centre and only the second in Australia to use advanced technology that is helping to revolutionise shoulder replacement surgery. Orthopaedic surgeon JamesChiu carried out the first surgery on Capel Sound resident Pam Chitty on Friday using the technology, after leading the push to bring the groundbreaking GPS navigational computer system to Mornington. Mrs Chitty had surgery in 1980 when she first injured her rotator cuff, but deterioration meant full replacement was the only option when even hanging out the clothes became unbearable. Mr Chiu said patients like Mrs Chitty now had options…
AN EXPERT panel of health and welfare professionals, including world-leading psychiatrist Professor Patrick McGorry, will head a public forum in Mornington to tackle the high rate of mental health issues in young people in the region. The forum is being run by Peninsula Voice, a not-for-profit group of community bodies, and will provide practical information on how to discuss and deal with mental health in young people and where help can be found on the peninsula. Speakers will include former Australian of the Year and world-leading researcher in early psychosis and youth mental health, Professor McGorry, psychologist Dr Diane McGreal, and…
A DIAGNOSIS of terminal cancer was the last thing Mt Eliza father of two Geoff Nyssen was expecting three weeks after turning 40. Life was on track in 2014 for the corporate high-flyer who lived a “normal” life, focussing on success and “getting ahead”. That was until a diagnosis of terminal blood cancer turned his life upside down. Inspirational in so many ways, Mr Nyssen has met the challenge head on and is re-directing his energies into raising money for Myeloma Australia to support the carers and families of multiple myeloma patients. In between working part time as an environmental…