Hundreds of Australian Doctors Call for an End to Victorian Madness, as Editor, A Sense of Place Magazine, 6 October, 2020.
Hundreds of Australian Doctors Call for an End to Victorian Madness
From the Australian Covid Medical Network
A group representing more than 500 Victorian doctors and medical experts have called on Premier Daniel Andrews to bring an immediate end to lockdown restrictions in Victoria, raising concerns over the alarming and growing human toll caused by Victoria’s COVID-19 response.
The Covid Medical Network says that the current restrictions are unnecessary, disproportionate and must be lifted, in a statement posted to their website today.
The response to the virus will cause more deaths and result in far more negative health effects than the virus itself, it says.
“The Victorian Government is doing more harm than good,” said anaesthetist Dr Eamonn Mathieson, speaking on behalf of the group.
The ongoing physical, psychological, social and economic harm is creating a new health crisis that far outweighs any possible benefits from continuing the lockdown.
DR EAMONN MATHIESON
Dr. David Marsh, a leading GP specialising in mental health, is alarmed at the rise in the number of people seeking help, many for the first time.
“We are experiencing a tsunami of mental health concerns, across all age groups. This cannot go on,” he said.
Camberwell GP Dr. Stacey Harris fears that children are the overlooked victims of the flawed virus response.
“I see 15 children and adolescents every day, and 40-50% of these have
some form of depression, anxiety, eating restrictive behaviours and obsessive-compulsive behaviours that is newly diagnosed or exacerbated from the lockdown,” she said.
“Their social isolation in continuous lockdown is causing instrumental harm and damage, that is causing — and will continue to cause — a huge mental health burden in Melbourne.”
Recent studies show that GP visits as well as screening checks for diabetes and common cancers have plummeted in recent months due to COVID-related concerns.
Breast cancer surgeon Dr. Jane O’Brien is concerned that the number of breast cancer presentations has plummeted during lockdown.
She said: “I have seen new breast cancer diagnoses from June to September down by 70% on both 2018 and 2019.
“Delayed diagnosis means we will see more women dying in coming
years – from cancers which could have been potentially cured if we had seen them earlier.”
Dr Mathieson urged the Government to consider the broader data around all health impacts, rather than the single-issue focus on COVID-19.
“The time has come to step back and look at the bigger picture. The data does not support the actions being taken” he said.
“We have avoided a major COVID outbreak in Australia -now we need to limit the collateral damage. It’s time for a new approach.”
Dr. Mathieson questioned the shift in political rhetoric from “suppression” to “elimination” of the virus. We can and must learn to live with it,” he said.
“The rules need to be based on science and the best evidence and data available, but looking at ALL the data, not just a narrow and limited section of the available statistics.”
There is no justification for causing widespread pain and suffering in the name of “viral elimination”.
DR EAMONN MATHIESON
The Covid Medical Network is calling on the Government to urgently establish a Committee of medical experts to inform decision making – comprising specialists in Mental Health, Geriatric, Psychiatric, Paediatrics, General Practice etc, as well as a broad interdisciplinary group including community leaders.
“It is essential the Government takes a broader view of the health and socio-economic picture,” said Dr. Mathieson.
“We need a new approach and a better plan – it is absolutely possible to reduce the risk of Coronavirus without causing the level of harm we are witnessing,” he said.
The full statement from the Covid Medical Network begins:
It has become increasingly clear that the response to the SARS-CoV-2 virus by the Victorian government is now doing more harm than good, and will cause more deaths and result in far more negative health effects than the virus itself and risks creating Victoria’s worst ever public health crisis.
A response was sought from the Federal office of the AMA, the Australian Medical Association.
The organisation finds itself increasingly compromised, with a significant number of its members now implicated in the biggest social and financial meltdown in Australian history, the sowing of panic and confusion in the population and the implementation of dangerously misguided policies under the guise of a public health emergency.
The organisation claimed: “The Federal AMA does not comment on State issues. This would appear to be a question for the Victorian Government.”
A response is being sought from the office of the Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews. Despite his office being funded to the tune of many millions of taxpayer dollars, at this point nobody has so much as bothered to return our call.
