The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety has again focussed attention on the failings of the Australian aged care system. Residential aged care in Australia has become increasingly market-driven since the major reforms of 1997. The aims of increased marketisation include providing residents with greater choice, higher quality services, and increasing providers’ efficiency and innovation. However, marketisation is not meeting these aims, predominantly due to asymmetries of knowledge and power between residents and aged care providers. These asymmetries arise from inadequate provision of information, geographic disparities, urgency for care as needs arise acutely, and issues surrounding safety, including cultural safety. We propose a human rights framework, supported by responsive regulation, to overcome the failings of the current system and deliver an improved aged care system which is fit for purpose.

This commentary addresses the increasing public health problem of suicide in later life and presents the case for preventing suicide in residential long-term care settings. We do so by examining this issue from the perspective of three levels of stakeholders – societal, organisational and individual – considering the relevant context, barriers and implications of each. We begin by discussing contemporary societal perspectives of ageing; the potential impact of ageism on prevention of late-life suicide; and the roles of gender and masculinity. This is followed by a historical analysis of the origin of residential long-term care; current organisational challenges; and person-centred care as a suicide prevention strategy. Finally, we consider suicide in long-term care from the perspective of individuals, including the experience of older adults living in residential care settings; the impact of suicide on residential care health professionals and other staff; and the impact of suicide bereavement on family, friends and other residents. We conclude with recommendations for policy reform and future research. This commentary aims to confront the often unspoken bias associated with preventing suicide among older adults, particularly those living with complex medical conditions, and invoke an open dialogue about suicide prevention in this population and setting.

The concept and potential implications of a premature death of an older person are under-recognised and misunderstood by society. Clinical, forensic and public health practitioners need to redress this gap to prepare society better for a future where an increasing proportion of the population are vulnerable older people. Reliable and valid information is paramount for understanding how many older people have premature, preventable deaths, with implications for aged care services, health-care expenditure, quality and safety, and human rights. Our aim is to: (a) provide discourse on the limitations and challenges to the use of the concepts ‘premature’ and ‘preventable’ deaths, examining the situation for nursing home residents; and (b) propose the use of a novel classification system of ‘treated’, ‘un-treated’ and ‘untreatable’ causes of death that is more sophisticated and reflects the demographic reality of our ageing population. Accepting that preventable, premature deaths may happen to older people and adopting a new classification is a novel approach that has considerable benefits for health and life care of older persons. Improved assessment of the quality of care provided, including identification of health or life care practices that are unsafe or deleterious, can be identified and addressed.

We surveyed three locations in West Africa, two in northern Nigeria and one in southern Niger, for the presence of wild alternative hosts of the legume pod borer (LPB) Maruca vitrata Fabricius, which could serve as natural unstructured refugia for transgenic Bacillusthuringiensis (Bt)-cowpea. We surveyed a total of 67 sites in proximity to cowpea fields in the Sudan Savannah (Kano, Nigeria), the Northern Guinea Savannah (Zaria, Nigeria) and the Sahel Savannah (Maradi, Niger) ecological zones. The results indicate that alternative host plants for LPB are scarce or absent during the cowpea-growing season in these areas.