On 19 June 2018, the Australian Senate referred “The
use of the Quinoline anti-malarial drugs Mefloquine
and Tafenoquine in the Australian Defence Force” to
the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References
Committee for inquiry and report by 17 September
2018. Submissions closed on 31 July 2018. This is
a controversial issue, which has had some debate
within the Journal. Dr Howie-Willis’s paper, on
the history of Australian military malariology1, has
received comment in a recent Letter to the Editor2.
Dr Howie-Willis has responded to that letter in this
Issue.
Sixty-five years ago, on 27 July 1953, an armistice
was signed that ended the Korean War. No peace
treaty was signed at the time and only in April 2018
have the leaders of North and South Korea agreed
to sign a treaty to formally end the Korean War by
December 2018. 17,000 Australians served in the
Korean War between 1950 and 1953, with 339 killed
and 1200 wounded. Australian forces were involved
in a number of key battles, including the battles
of Yongju, Kapyong and Maryang San and the air
battle of Suchon in December 1951. Despite these
numbers and Australia’s continual involvement over
the 4 years, the Korean War often seems to be the
forgotten war when it comes to histories or reflections
on lessons learned. As a Journal, we would be very
interested in any papers look at any military medical
aspects of the Korean War.
Our third issue of 2018 addresses a range of diverse
areas. Clinical reviews look at concussion in the
military, sepsis in gunshot wounds, analgesic use
in musculoskeletal pain, and the role of paramedics
in the Australian Defence Force (ADF). An article
on the use of reflective practice in training and
a reproduced article on assessment of medical
suitability for employment and deployment in the
ADF complement these. Finally, there is the second
part of an interesting historical perspective on Naval
uniforms.
We continue to get a good range of articles, but other
military and veterans’ health articles are always
very welcome and we would encourage all our
readers to consider writing on their areas of military
or veterans’ health interest. Our themes are now
available for 2019 to allow for authors to research
and develop their articles – we certainly welcome
articles in these areas but welcome any articles
across the broader spectrum of military health. I
look forward to catching up with authors, reviewers,
Editorial Board members and, of course, readers
at the October AMMA Conference. We would also
encourage authors who are preparing to present at
the AMMA Conference in October to consider writing
up their presentations early for publication in the
Journal.
Dr Andy Robertson, CSC, PSM
Editor-in-Chief
