The Medical journal of Australia
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Perinatal depression is an important public health issue, with major consequences for the mother, child and family. Perinatal depression is often associated with anxiety and other mental health and psychosocial issues. ⋯ Identifying women at risk of or experiencing perinatal depression is difficult, and there is no standard tool used by all hospitals to assess women's emotional health and psychosocial comorbidities. The NPDP provides an opportunity to develop and evaluate new approaches to assessing perinatal depression and a range of psychosocial issues, and to test strategies for supporting women and their families before and after birth.
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The relationship between medicine and the pharmaceutical industry in the United States is undergoing rapid and momentous change; US Senator Grassley has alleged inadequate disclosure of earnings from industry and lack of acknowledgement of conflicts of interest by leading academics. This article is based on the premise that it is not the relationship per se that is the problem, but rather how that relationship is enacted. The influential 2008 report of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has provided detailed recommendations on appropriate interactions between academic physicians and industry (eg, proscribing receipt of gifts including travel support, and proscribing speaking at industry-sponsored educational programs). ⋯ In Australia, details of all industry-sponsored educational events are now listed on the Medicines Australia website. Australian doctors have no alternative but to drastically improve the transparency of their interactions with industry, both in terms of the remuneration received and disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. Australian universities should seriously consider developing recommendations similar to those of the AAMC.