Better safe than sorry
Dr Mary McMillan's opinion piece in the Examiner, June 20, claimed that Roundup (used correctly) is safe, and found to be non-carcinogenic according to a plethora of world agencies including the US Environmental Protection Agency.
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Conversely, NBN television's new recently featured a disquieting report on Roundup, citing that several councils are banning its use because of glyphosate - a main ingredient.
Of course this could be a rearguard action in response to millions of dollars won in successful law suits against its manufacturer.
Moreover, not all world science bodies agree that Roundup is non-carcinogenic - a fact that Dr McMillan omits.
In fact the International Agency for Research on Cancer said glyphosate is "probably carcinogenic to humans."
And Researchers from the University of Washington conducted an analysis and found that glyphosate raises the risk of cancer to those exposed to it by 41 per cent.
Isn't it better to err on the side of caution pending more conclusive studies?
Brian Coleman, Karuah
Grateful for help
I would like to publicly thank Summa Duncan and her family for going out of her way to assist me on Tuesday, when I broke my arm in the Salamander Bay shopping Centre carpark.
Summa I am so grateful to you for your wonderful help.
Victoria Trigar, Salamander Bay
Not likely to care
I am not, nor have I ever been a nasty person, but today when I read that one of Anita Cobby's murderers, Gary Murphy, was bashed in prison by a group of inmates in the shower block, I could only think of the terror that Anita went through all those years ago.
This bloke got just a minor taste of it and I am fairly certain that Australia wide, not one person will care.
Dave Northam, Raymond Terrace
Funding to fight stroke
Stroke Foundation is excited to partner with the New South Wales (NSW) Governments to revolutionise emergency stroke care for people in the state's regional areas.
Funding for the $21.7 million Centralised Stroke Telehealth Service and treatment pathway to country hospitals was confirmed in the NSW State Budget.
The joint State and Federal Government three-year investment builds on a pilot project underway on the mid north coast, which utilises telehealth technology to connect patients in regional areas to city-based neurologists.
A telehealth service right across our state and will make a real difference to the lives of patients and their families by removing barriers to time-critical stroke treatment that saves lives.
The more rapidly a patient accesses treatment after stroke, the fewer brain cells die and the better the chance of a positive outcome.
Currently, regional Australians are 19 percent more likely to experience stroke than people in our cities.
The NSW Centralised Stroke Telehealth Service will connect a neurologist to the patient remotely, speeding up diagnosis and supporting regional clinicians to administer blood clot dissolving treatment or to transfer the patient to a comprehensive stroke centre for blood clot removal.
New South Wales is home to 12 of the country's top 20 hot spots for stroke - with 10 located in regional areas of the state.
Too many lives are currently being devastated by stroke, but it does not need to be this way.
The service will also decrease the burden of stroke on the health system and economy.