From the Editor’s Desk- 24 August 2014


I had occasion to look up the Google analytics figures relating to the new i2P publication, and I am pleased to report:
* It has an open rate of 36% of subscribers compared to an industry average of 19.4%.
This figure relates to the quality of content and we should be able to improve further on that as we release new ideas into a profession that is looking for new directions.

* 78.4 % of subscribers originate from Australia, 15.4% from the US, Japan 3.5% with the remainder of 2.7% originating from countries like New Zealand 1.1%, Barbados and China.
One of our goals was to become a global publication, and we seem to have made some impact here.
We were disappointed that the UK and Europe did not feature in larger numbers of subscribers, but that gives us a challenge for the next two years.
We would like to see our UK and US subscriber rate to be around 20% each of total subscribers

* Also of interest is that 56.2% of “opens” in Australia originate from a desktop while 43.8% are opened on a mobile device (smartphone or iPad or similar), with iPhone being a clear leader with 38% of “opens”.
It illustrates that subscribers are becoming more mobile with their Internet access and that IT literacy is high among pharmacists.

* Subscriber numbers have surged by 17% which is a very positive trend.
We would like to have more interaction with our subscribers so we request that the comments panel be used to constructively criticise articles or expand on the knowledge by adding value to the article with informed comment,

Also, if any of our subscribers wishes i2P to research a particular topic and publish the results, then please specify a project to us in as much detail as you can, also sharing any information you may have already found.

In this edition of i2P we discuss the environmental and lifestyle illnesses that may result from widespread contamination of the food chain, our water supply and the air we breathe.
It is little wonder we are hearing of diseases such as diabetes talked of as being “epidemic” in numbers, also Parkinson’s Disease and a whole host of other environmental illnesses that have yet to be categorised.
We have also discovered this week that the fluoride that is dumped into water supplies as a dental health initiative also contains a significant amount of lead and aluminium (in any Chinese-sourced fluoride powder).
There are evidently checks made for the proportion of fluoride each batch contains, but no testing is done for lead or aluminium.
This week we also discovered that there is clear evidence of certain vaccines causing autism and that information relating to this adverse event has been covered up at the highest levels by drug companies and the US agency (CDC) charged with oversight.

We will be publishing more on this activity as it unfolds, but all those people who keep saying that autism does not result from vaccination had better hold themselves in check before more harm is done.
We also report on the surge in market share for complementary medicines.
Pharmacists seem very timid to make informed statements regarding this market which is a market that they should be intimately involved in.
Evidence exists for many complementary medicines but admittedly it is not as easily accessed as mainstream medicine.
However, that is slowly changing, both in quality of evidence and access.

i2P recommends that pharmacists join the Australian Integrative Medicine Association to understand some of these environmental health issues and provide mentoring to your own patients from the best of both worlds of mainstream medicine and complementary medicine.
Towards that process we also recommend that you attend their conferences.
We unfortunately received notice of their current conference too late to circulate to i2P subscribers, but we decided to publish their information to give people an idea of what takes place.
Meanwhile, there is nothing to prevent your joining the organisation in the interim – it integrates medical modalities as well as practitioners and appears to be pharmacist-friendly.

We greatly look forward to welcoming you to our 20th annual International Integrative Medicine Conference in beautiful Sydney. We have a world renowned International faculty from the United States, Sweden and New Zealand as well as leaders in Integrative, Complementary and Natural Medicine from Australia.

We have changed the program format to incorporate many more lectures covering wide and diverse topics in integrative and natural medicine. For the first time at the conference we have introduced a number of case scenarios run each afternoon, which will be run by multidisciplinary expert panels inviting audience participation to discuss difficult and complex treatment strategies for specific issues and illnesses such as obesity, autoimmunity, cancer and chronic pain.

Two plenary sessions will open the first two conference days entitled ‘Healing Journeys’ and ‘The Future of Integrative Medicine in Australia’. The following sessions on the first day will explore Women’s Health, Integrative Oncology, Heavy Metals and Chemical Toxicity and Gastrointestinal Health. The second day will discuss Integrative Cardiology, the Management of Infections and the Management of Pain. A separate session entitled ‘Hardtalk’ will examine difficult, hard-hitting and sensitive topics such as Epigenetics, IVF and the current issue of Friends of Science in Medicine.

We have also brought back the popular workshops on Sundays which will cover Adrenal Fatigue, Ayurvedic Medicine, Paediatric Integrative Medicine and Mind-Body Medicine and the Biology of Belief.

AIMA 2014 promises to be an even greater success than previous years. We ask that you check the website regularly (https://www.aima.net.au) for the program updates and conference details. We look forward to having you join us for this exciting conference in one of the world’s most beautiful cities. We look forward to seeing you here with us for two and a half days filled with inspiring, encouraging, interesting and educational discussions, talks, debates and workshops.  Register now and don’t forget to book a place for dinner on Saturday night at the Athenian.  It promises to be a great night out!  Click here to find out more about the dinner.
This conference is a must for anyone committed to improving the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health of their patients and committed to bringing the best evidenced based integrative treatments to their practices.

Does that sound like something that could interest you and that could expand your business model?
Could this evolve into a fee paying service practice?
Many practitioners have already evolved in this direction, some of them are pharmacists.
This is the direction pharmacy should be taking – it is interesting and it is practical and is badly needed to backstop our regular communities from slipping into poor health, inflicted by global corporates without a conscience.


One response to “From the Editor’s Desk- 24 August 2014”

  1. I have had preliminary discussions about forming “The Australian Integrative Pharmacists Association” as an offshoot of AIMA. This is a preliminary expression of interest, but I would be delighted to keep a record of any interest and liase with AIMA in time. I’m well aware that the Friends of Science and Medicine are infiltrating pharmacy circles, spreading their doctrine. Here’s an opportunity to be informed about complementary medicines in our practices, with an umbrella organisation protecting our opinions and interests.

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