TASA
co-ordinator Linda Byart has, since 1997, spearheaded
the drive to make HRT available for all men in
Australia, not just the well off. In 1997 she,
Dr Malcolm Carruthers, and a small group of Australian
doctors set up the Supplementary Testosterone
Action Group (STAG). In 2000, together
with Dr Adrian Zentner, Medical Director of the
dedicated men’s Health Centre
TIME FOR MEN in East Melbourne, Dr Nathan Francis,
Men’s Health Physician in ….and several
lay members, she founded The Andropause
Society of Australia (TASA). This new
charity is affiliated to The Andropause
Society, and has similar aims.
MALE
HRT IN AUSTRALIA
April
1997 - Launch of the book "Maximising
Manhood" in Australia. Written by Dr Malcolm
Carruthers, it is an account of treatment of
1,000 patients over 10 years, and has over 200
medical references. Some of the principal findings
were presented at the at the first World
Congress on the Ageing Male in Geneva 1998.
An updated version of this book, is due to be
published in October 2001, with additional chapters
on Viagra and the "The Testosterone Revolution".
July
1997 to date: Response to the book
led to the recruitment of doctors to be trained
to participate in a Study under Dr Carruthers
supervision to see if Australian men showed
the same benefits as his patients in Europe
- which they did and do - and later to the setting
up of the Well Men Centre in Perth and Well
Men Day clinics in Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne.
There are also trained doctors in Sydney who
see men in their existing practice.
August
1999 – Pharmaceutical Benefits
Scheme rules changed by the Federal Government,
denying the majority of men HRT.... and the
fight for justice begins.
