James Bidgood (Dawson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the Australian National Preventive Health Agency Bill 2009. This bill establishes the Australian National Preventive Health Agency to support Australian health ministers in tackling the complex and growing challenge of preventable chronic disease. The Australian National Preventive Health Agency will be a statutory authority under the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997. The Council of Australian Governments agreed to establish the ANPHA in November 2008 as part of the National Partnership Agreement on Preventive Health, known as Prevention NP. The ANPHA will, broadly, support Australian health ministers in meeting the challenges posed by preventable chronic conditions and the lifestyle related risk factors. A chief executive officer will manage the agency and will be directly accountable to the health minister for the financial management of the agency, via the minister, and for the Australian National Preventive Health Agency’s performance against agreed strategic objectives and operational plans. The agency will have an advisory council comprising between seven and 11 members with preventative health expertise in a variety of disciplines and from a variety of sectors.

This program will be funded and will deliver outcomes. The Rudd Labor government will provide funding of $133.2 million over four years for the new agency. Of this, $17.6 million will be provided for the establishment and maintenance; $102 million will be provided for national level social marketing campaigns targeting obesity and smoking; and $13.1 million will be provided for a preventative health research fund focusing on translational research to support policy development.

Preventative health is a priority area for this government. Preventative health is important for us all. Cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes—in many cases, for many people, all preventable diseases—consume about 70 per cent of the nation’s healthcare budget, yet less than two per cent of health expenditure is directed towards preventing illness. While Australia’s life expectancy on average is one of the highest in the world, second only to Japan’s, it is vitally important that we do better on keeping people healthy and out of hospital so that we can improve and extend lives and reduce the pressure on our hospital system. Chronic disease is a major burden on the health of Australians. In 1996 chronic disease accounted for 80 per cent of the burden of disease, measured in terms of loss of years and quality of life.

One of the emerging challenges and threats facing our health is obesity. As a nation we are more obese than ever. Our young people are now more obese than ever. Our diets are richer and our exercise rate as a population is much lower than it was. Overweight and obesity are major risk factors for many chronic diseases. Obesity causes one-fifth of colorectal, breast, uterine and kidney cancers. In 2007-08, 61 per cent of Australian adults aged 18 and over were either overweight, 36.6 per cent, or obese, 24.8 per cent. In the same year, 25 per cent of Australian children aged between five and 17 were overweight, 17.1 per cent, or obese, 7.8 per cent.

Type 2 diabetes is also a lifestyle disease and is strongly associated with high blood pressure, abnormal blood fats and the classic apple-shape body type, in which there is extra weight around the waist. While it usually affects adults, more and younger people, even children, are getting type 2 diabetes. Diseases such as type 2 diabetes are also on the rise. Type 2 diabetes is by far the most common form of diabetes, affecting 85 to 90 per cent of all people with diabetes.

Cardiovascular disease is also a major concern. It accounts for 34 per cent of deaths in Australia. It is a burden on families and community and is also a huge economic burden. We cannot underestimate the damage that a disease that kills one Australian every 10 minutes has. This is a disease that affects two out of three families, and these are diseases whose prevalence could be mitigated with prevention strategies.

Many diseases and cancers can be addressed through such things as improved lifestyle, weight management and an increase in physical activity. People ought to keep an eye on their blood pressure, watch the type of food they eat and beverages they drink, know their cholesterol levels, enjoy alcohol in moderation and, of course, quit smoking. While it is true that fewer people than ever before are smoking, thousands of young people continue to take up the habit each year. Tobacco remains the single biggest preventable cause of death and disease in Australia. Today we all know that smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer—Australia’s biggest cancer killer.

Some alarming facts about lung cancer are these: more than 8,000 Australians are diagnosed with lung cancer each year; more than 7,000 Australians die from lung cancer each year; and about one in 30 Australians will develop lung cancer by the age of 75. It is estimated that up to 90 per cent of lung cancers are due to smoking. So, one million fewer smokers in Australia would prevent the premature deaths of almost 300,000 Australians. That is staggering. We really do have to think seriously about preventive health because this hammers home the message that prevention is better than cure. These are staggering figures, and they are all preventable.

Through the Australian National Preventive Health Agency, we are providing for and recognising preventive health measures in our communities. I am very excited to be part of a government, in partnership with key stakeholder groups, that is about supporting behavioural change through educational, promotional and community awareness programs relating to preventive health. By forming partnerships with these relative groups—industry, non-government and community sectors—to encourage cooperative action leading to preventive health gains, we will make massive inroads to health outcomes for all Australians. I am sure that you can see, from the figures that I mentioned, that this is truly a measure which will prevent the possible deaths, prematurely, of over 300,000 Australians. I wholeheartedly recommend this bill to the House.

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