RACP asks for greater detail, commitment in the Preventive Health Strategy

The RACP’s recent submission on the draft National Preventive Health Strategy offers recommendations towards making it an inclusive and effective vision for preventive health and sets out the means for addressing major health challenges over the next decade.

The development of the strategy comes at a time when the need to address the imbalance between prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, and provide a coordinated national response that encompasses all systems could not be clearer. While the draft strategy goes some way towards acknowledging this need and recommends a coordinated national approach, significant gaps remain.

The College has asked the Government to:

• provide greater detail on how the five per cent of the national health budget earmarked for prevention would be allocated
• increase focus on work, employment, and poverty as determinants of health
• increase focus on the environmental determinants of health in an actionable way
• include evidence-based approaches such as taxes on sugary drinks and restrictions on junk food and drinks marketing to children
• centre the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
• acknowledge and make actionable measures to better address the needs of people with disabilities
• assign specific responsibilities, accountabilities and milestones.

The upcoming Preventive Health Strategy is a decisive moment for Australia’s health system and the health of Australians. It must provide specific actions and clearly stated areas of responsibility and accountability if it is to lead to tangible and meaningful improvements in health outcomes for all Australians.

Read the submission