Statistics show one in five men across Australia will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, prompting one local volunteer group to ensure these men don’t go through a diagnosis alone.

The Parkes Prostate Cancer Awareness and Support Group aims to provide a supportive environment for men to connect with others going through a similar journey and share their experiences to improve health and wellbeing. The group meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month at Parkes Neighbourhood Central at 7pm. 

Support Group spokesperson, Michael Lynch, encouraged men and their partners impacted by prostate cancer to reach out for support. 

“We know some men can have a hard time reaching out for help when times get tough. That’s why we’re here, to make sure that no man in our region feels like they have to walk this journey alone,” he said.

“Our members are fathers, sons, brothers, grandfathers, and uncles and all have a story to share. We enjoy getting out and about to start the conversation about prostate cancer and let locals know the importance of getting checked by their doctors. It’s a simple thing that can save lives,” said Michael.

To find out more about the Prostate Cancer Support Group, call 1800 22 00 99 or visit www.pcfa.org.au/support/find-a-support-group. National Volunteer Week runs from Monday 15th May to Sunday 21st May.

Currently, 95% of Fijian children are being vaccinated against Rubella, which is good news, but this was not always the case. There are many, many older Fijians who are deaf or have severe hearing difficulties, and not all of them are able to afford to go to an audiologist.

There is an Australian audiometrist in Suva who does free work for poorer people. The Parkes Que Club has been supporting this work for many years by supplying him with old, behind the ear type, hearing aids.

This is where you may be able to help. Do you have any discarded hearing aids at home? It doesn’t matter whether or not they still work. Tom Shepherd cannibalises the faulty one and uses the good parts to make working hearing aids. Of course, if they still work, that’s even better.

We now have several locations where there are boxes where you can leave your old hearing aids, and they will be emptied just before our monthly business meetings and sent on to Tom. This is such a simple way to give some less fortunate people the gift of hearing.

You will find our boxes at Can Assist, Central West Child Care Services, Hanson Optometrist, OPSM and St Vincent de Paul in Parkes, and also at the Forbes Medical Centre. 

These new boxes are also big enough to hold discarded prescription glasses. As there is no longer a Lions Club in Parkes, we send these onto the Lions who distribute them to needy people in other countries.

Que Club would also like to thank all the people in Parkes and Forbes who are now knitting Teddy Bears for our local ambulances to comfort small children in distressing circumstances. The finished bears now can be left at Parkes Décor near the Leagues Club.

These are all small ways in which working together we can make a huge difference to the lives of disadvantaged people.

If you want any more information about these projects or about our Que club, call Pam on 0407 894 498.

By Pam Nankivell
Parkes Que Club

The decision by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) to backflip on its restriction on the availability of an asthma medication highlights that its decisions are not set in stone.

Welcoming the reversal, National President of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia Trent Twomey said it was a pragmatic and common sense win for patients.

“Quite clearly the original decision to restrict availability of this important medicine was wrong,” Professor Twomey said.

“There was no logic to it, and the PBAC has now seen sense.”

Under the PBAC decision last month, the medicines for children aged six years and under had to be initially prescribed by a respiratory specialist, and then could only be prescribed with authority approval by Medicare.

Additionally, patients over the age of six could no longer access the medicine as a pharmaceutical benefit, forcing them to buy privately which imposed a significant cost burden, primarily for those with concessional status. Also, there were no equivalent alternatives available for patients over the age of six.