Print this pageA long-term national health strategy
Australia’s health and wealth are inextricably linked. Good health will mean that we have long and productive lives. The wealth of a productive economy enables Australians to enjoy the benefits of good housing, nutritious food, a safe and clean environment and modern health services that are fundamental to good health. But how can we improve our chances of achieving the best health outcomes? How can we ensure that there is greater equity across the population, so everyone does share in these benefits?
As our nation grows richer we seem to be both willing and able to devote a greater share of our national income to health, but how can we be sure that we are getting the best outcomes from these investments? How do we recognise and ensure that progress in areas of environmental health, nutrition and exercise that reduce the incidence of disease are balanced against the seemingly insatiable appetite for greater spending on health care services to treat disease?
Conversations about the future of health care often focus on the prospects of new technologies. New pharmaceuticals, and developments in imaging, robotics and nanotechnology hold out the hope of improved treatment and earlier diagnosis. But how should we assess the merits of alternative new technologies, and how quickly should they be introduced? How aggressively should we pursue research into new cures and at what cost? How can we have systems in place to capitalise on increasing access to information that leads to improved health treatments?
And yet many of the biggest current threats to Australian’s health seem somehow disconnected from visions of a hi-tech future. Obesity, chronic disease management, the threat of new communicable diseases, the ever-growing burden of mental illness, an ageing population and access to human as opposed to technological resources are the focus of today’s health care debates.
How can we deal with these emerging challenges, so there are effective strategies in place well before 2020? How can we ensure sufficient effort is given to prevention and primary health care, to reduce avoidable hospitalisation? As a sport-loving nation, how can we inspire others to participate in physical activity and achieve their best? What do we need to do today to prepare for the health workforce of the future? How can we ensure we have sufficient and suitable choices of aged care services for our ageing population? Will the children born today who will be aged 12 in 2020 have an increased incidence of childhood obesity?
Will these be the same issues likely to be confronting us in 2020? The challenge, as we try to envisage health and health care in 2020 is to reconcile long and short term views. Can we anticipate what benefits 12 more years of technological progress will bring? Will we still have a long way to go in dealing with the very low-tech challenges of lifestyle disease, workforce shortages and the state of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians’ health? How do we ensure there is smart delivery of effective health services to our geographically dispersed population? How do we engage with consumers, so health services are designed to meet their needs?
And in all our deliberations we must not lose sight of the complex moral and ethical challenges that inevitably arise in the health domain. Is there a better way of reconciling individual wants and societal needs in setting spending priorities? Do we need to adjust our institutions and decision making processes to deal with profound questions that stem from developments in medical research and new technologies? What are the implications for families and communities of the very real prospect of significantly increased longevity?
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