Published by Computachem Services

P.O Box 297.
Alstonville. 2477
NSW Australia

Phone:
61 2 66285138

Last weekend, within mere hours of each other, the lives of two men came to a tragic end. Active advocates for their chosen fields, funeral services for both will be held today.
This, however, is where the similarities end.

One death completely filled four pages (4-7) of the daily newspaper here in Perth, the other rated a small article on page 12.
One funeral is to be televised nationally, the other will be a much quieter affair. It is the difference in media coverage that leads me to the title of this offering "A matter for contemplation".
As readers will have no doubt guessed, the first casualty was the cricketer David Hookes, the other Kevin McAnuff, president of the Pharmaceutical Council of WA and state representative to the Pharmacy Guild.
Kevin suffered a severe heart attack on the 18th of January from which he failed to recover.

Although I remember the famous "five successive fours" Centenary Test and followed Hookes' career with some interest I am at a loss to understand the variation in media coverage, especially here in Perth. Kevin McAnuff has been the face of pharmacy in WA for much of the 21 years I've lived in Perth, regularly appearing in the media as the spokesman for the profession.
He ran successful businesses and became a wonderful mentor for countless young pharmacists (including his daughter and my son and daughter).
He was one of those instrumental in negotiating the Government-Guild agreements that have given community pharmacy a degree of security, translating in latter years to the rise in a more "intellectual" range of professional services.
He has long been a champion of the profession but his death received almost no cover in the Perth media.
One would think that unless you are an actor or singer, cricketer, footballer or tennis player (or combination of these) you are of little interest to the media.
Is this, I wonder, an indictment of the skewed emphasis Australians place on the actions of these groups of people to the detriment of possibly more important, activities such as saving lives through medical and pharmaceutical expertise?

This year we select a retired test cricket captain (three in fact over the years) as Australian of the Year ahead of several highly skilled, and internationally renowned, doctors.
Where is the sense in our priorities?
It seems that, unless you are a sporting champion, your chance of receiving widespread recognition in Australia is negligible.
We pharmacists are supposedly one of the most trusted and respected group of professionals in Australia but it does not seem to engender much interest in the main stream media outlets (unless, of course, they are running a story about "rip-off" pharmacists).
Today the church was packed for Kevin's funeral - a clear indication of the esteem with which he was held, not only here in Perth but all over Australia, (a number of mourners had flown from interstate to attend the ceremony) but I failed to see any television camera crews anywhere.

Makes you wonder doesn't it?