Having been confined to the house (well, mostly) for the past weeks because of my back operation, I have naturally been more than usually aware of day time television programs. The conclusion I have come to is that we need to fight long and hard to maintain Aunty, ie. ABC, as it airs programs that are thought- provoking and meaningful and that contribute to the level of information and debate on a given subject. Maybe I don’t always agree with the stated point of view, but at least the subjects are varied, cosmopolitan, and lingering after the program has finished.

Nobody’s trying to shut Aunty down, are they? Well, no, not as far as I know but you just never know. And if there is ever in the future nowhere to go to avoid the semi-American pap that passes for Australian content on other channels, then we may as well get rid of the television altogether.

Having said that, I was delighted to find that Oprah’s program on menopause that was re-aired recently, fully endorsed my practice of using bio-identical hormones and tailoring the dosage according to the results of each woman’s individual hormone tests. Oprah had Dr Christiane Northrup, an American doctor specialising in natural hormones, on her show to indicate how the testing and prescribing works, and her system is exactly the same as that used in my practice.

We know that Oprah is one of, if not the most powerful women in America. What we need here in Australia is a day time television show that is prepared to develop its own power and tackle the hard issues without reference to the income stream from advertisers.

Which is why we need Aunty ABC! If you’re not a regular viewer, try it sometime, for example when you are trying to escape the ‘sportsfest’ that is on commercial channels every weekend. You might find more to interest you than you think!