Healthy boost for women's research

Wednesday 14 September 2005

Research into women's health at the University of Newcastle has been given a boost with the announcement of an additional $4.62 million over the next three years to continue the Women's Health Australia study.

The Federal Minister for Health, the Honourable Tony Abbott MP, made the announcement today at the launch of a series of reports on key issues in women's health, including weight gain, domestic violence, use of rural health services, paid work, ageing, mental health and the use of alcohol, tobacco and recreational drugs.

The reports come from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, widely known as Women's Health Australia, which is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing and is being conducted jointly by researchers at the Universities of Newcastle and Queensland.

The study is a national resource which has been examining the health of over 40,000 Australian women in three generations over the past decade. Having been designed to run for at least twenty years, it is now at the halfway point.

Dr Penny Warner-Smith, the Project Manager of Women's Health Australia at the University of Newcastle, said the funding is great news which will ensure the continuation of the study.

"Congratulations must also go to the participants who have generously given of their time and shared their health experiences over the past ten years," said Dr Warner-Smith.

"Their continuing willingness to contribute to this project, one of the longest running studies in the world, has ensured its ongoing success."

The participants were selected in 1995 in three age groups: younger women aged 18-23, mid-age women 45-50, and older women aged 70-75. These groups were chosen to recruit women before they passed through major turning points in their lives.

Dr Warner-Smith said the combination of a longitudinal design, comparative data across three age groups, and access to information on health service use makes the project a world first.

Copies of the research reports are available from the website of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health at www.newcastle.edu.au/centre/wha or by contacting the research team at the University of Newcastle on (02) 4923 6872 or the University of Queensland on (07) 3346 4691.

For interviews: Dr Penny Warner-Smith, Project Manager of Women's Health Australia at the University of Newcastle, on (02) 4923 6872.