The Medical journal of Australia
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The Northern Territory Alcohol Mandatory Treatment Act 2013 (AMT Act) permits mandatory residential alcohol rehabilitation for up to 3 months. International guidelines and human rights law confirm that mandatory rehabilitation should only be used for short periods. Evidence concerning the efficacy of long-term mandatory alcohol rehabilitation is lacking, and minimal data concerning the efficacy of the scheme have been released. ⋯ The program only permits referral by police, despite the fact that it is ostensibly a medical intervention. Use of a treatment as a method of effectively solving a public intoxication problem is highly dubious, and should be of concern to the medical community. Given that more cost-effective and proven measures exist to combat alcohol dependence, the utility of the AMT Act is questionable.
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To determine whether a combination of point-of-care (POC) and laboratory glycated haemoglobin A (HbA1c) testing (HbA1c algorithm) is more effective in testing for diabetes in everyday practice in remote Australian Aboriginal primary health care, by providing a more rapid definitive result and diagnosing more cases than the standard glucose algorithm. ⋯ Use of POC HbA1c testing and collection of venous blood on the same day for a confirmatory laboratory HbA1c testing if the POC HbA1c value is abnormal may simplify diabetes testing in remote areas, provide more timely diagnoses, and increase case detection.