Calling it a step in the right direction, the West Australian General Practice Network says $145 million in Indigenous health funding would make things better.

Making the biggest investment into Aboriginal health reform in the state's history, the State Government yesterday announced $128.7 million for the purpose.

The Rudd government has stated that under the federal health reform plan, the number of operations at public hospitals would remain capped.

The office of Health Minister Nicola Roxon has confirmed that for planning purpose, the states will continue to set the number of services at each local hospital network, which has come as a blow to the hopes of doctors and health reform advocates.

New rules allowing nurse practitioners and midwives to prescribe tests and drugs under Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme have been welcomed by medical workers working at the ACT.

This law would also provide protection scheme for midwives, excluding those who help in births at home. The Federal Parliament passed the law.

Westmead, Sydney's most prominent hospital has been accused of making patients wait for 17 months for surgeries related to brain and spinal cord by the New South Wales Opposition.

Jillian Skinner, Spokeswoman of the Opposition said that 200 or more patients have been made to wait for neurosurgery at Westmead Hospital while only 10% received dates for surgery.

Citing the reason for this delay, Ms Skinner told that the neurosurgeons are agitated on the issue of less time given to them to operate. She said,

AIDS experts have been in search of a microbicide, essentially a cream/gel or a vaginal ring that the women or men can use for protection against sexual transmission of AIDS. 
At a conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, this week, many scientists suggested to make use of HIV drugs to make these gels work.

The Obama Administration continued to impose pressure on health insurers Thursday, revealing that some companies planned double-digit rate increases while earning billions in profits and paying their bosses multimillion-dollar salaries.