The Medical journal of Australia
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To assess the impact of the opening of an after-hours general practice clinic on the number of daily low-urgency presentations to the nearby emergency department. ⋯ An after-hours general practice clinic was associated with a reduction in low-urgency presentations to the emergency department in Wagga Wagga.
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In the United States, policy experiments over a 20-year period have demonstrated that road crash deaths among young adults can be substantially reduced by raising the minimum legal drinking age to 21 years. A recent evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of policies for reducing alcohol-related harm in Australia found that, if the US experience were to be replicated in Australia, raising the minimum legal drinking age would be more cost-effective than random breath testing and drink-driving campaigns. ⋯ If all Australian jurisdictions had adopted this policy in 2003, 17 deaths could have been be averted among young Australians as they aged from 18 to 21 years and many more serious injuries could have been prevented each year. If we had enforced a zero BAC until age 25, the number of deaths averted until age 25 years could have been as high as 50.
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To evaluate the changes in the understanding of the manner and cause of death occurring during the course of coronial investigations. ⋯ Coronial investigations transform basic understanding of cause of death in only a small minority of cases. However, the benefits to families and society of accurate cause-of-death determinations in these difficult cases may be considerable.
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Review Meta Analysis Comparative Study
Suicide in Australia: meta-analysis of rates and methods of suicide between 1988 and 2007.
To examine the changes in rates of methods of suicide in Australian states and territories between 1988 and 2007. ⋯ The decline in rates of suicide in most parts of Australia coincides with a reduction in the availability of lethal methods. Consideration should be given to further measures to limit the availability of lethal methods of suicide.