Why are those on the NDIS charged more?

27/05/2021 0 Comments read Disability, Health & Science, NDIS

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 27.05.21 (Hireup): When Monique Power approached a local private paediatric physiotherapy practice and told them that her daughter, who was born with a rare and sporadic disability, was a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participant, they increased their standard consultation fee by $100. When she queried the price gap, the provider couldn’t give any reasonable justification apart from saying, “We thought that is what we were meant to be charging”.

“Their lack of knowledge, moral compass and sheer ignorance of the nuances of the NDIS is unfortunately not an isolated occurrence”, says Power, Founder of RippleAbility, which helps parents and carers to access and optimise their NDIS Plans.

The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) provides funding to NDIS participants to purchase a range of reasonable and necessary supports to increase independence, and social and economic participation. This funding is provided through individual participant budgets and the amount NDIA pays for these supports is set in the NDIS Price Guide, which is updated annually on 1^st July.

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Gender bias stymies women’s progress in STEM

11/02/2021 0 Comments read Gender, Health & Science

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 11.02.2021 (Scidev.Net): While women play a critical role in science and technology, women career scientists still face gender bias, accounting for only 28 percent of engineering graduates and 40 percent of graduates in computer science and informatics, according to UNESCO.

On the sixth UN International Day of Women and Girls in Science today, 11^th February, UNESCO has published one of the chapters on gender in science entitled To be Smart the Digital Revolution will Need to be Inclusive from the UNESCO Science Report scheduled for publication in April.

The chapter highlights that women are not benefitting fully from employment opportunities open to highly educated and skilled experts in cutting edge fields, such as artificial intelligence. Also, women founders of start-ups struggle to access finance, and in large tech companies they remain underrepresented in both leadership and technical positions.

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Novel drug treatment offers hope to XDR-TB patients

03/02/2021 0 Comments read Health & Science

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 03.02.21 (SciDev.Net): A new three-drug, all-oral, six-month treatment is providing hope to patients in Tajikistan with highly drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis, which until now had limited treatment options and a poor prognosis.

Tajikistan is the first country in Central Asia and second in the world after Ukraine to provide patients with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) access to the novel BPaL regimen treatment under operational research conditions from December 2020. The regimen consists of three drugs – bedaquiline, pretomanid and linezolid.

“The BPaL regimen offers the shortest possible treatment course for XDR-TB patients, excludes injectable drugs, it’s easy to use and more affordable. Conventional treatment regimen for patients with XDR-TB consists of 7- 8 antibiotics for a minimum of 18 months, including any of the injectable drugs, which not every patient can tolerate”, says Veriko Mirtskhulava, senior epidemiologist at KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation, an international NGO devoted to eliminating TB.

The BPaL regimen, developed by the non-profit organisation TB Alliance, is being implemented in Tajikistan by the National Tuberculosis Program with support from KNCV.

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