People, Food and Health

Unit 3, Area of Study 2 - Promoting Health in

Australia
The development of the National Health Priority Areas and associated
health promotion initiatives implemented to promote health.
This topic represents the largest stage in the development of the Australian
Health Policy, and is discussed in Chapter 4, The Australian Health Care System,
of People, Food and Health. The following case study will discuss the development
and implementation of the National Health Priority Areas. It will also examine
each Health Priority Area and the reasons for the development of each.
What is the National Health Priority Areas Program?
The National Health Priority Areas (NHPA) program is a collaboration between the
Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments. It seeks to improve the health
of Australians by targeting diseases or conditions that impose a high social and
financial cost. The NHPA program aims to promote prevention and intervention in
terms of health.
The NHPA program was established as a response to the World Health
Organisation's global strategy on health reform and is overseen by the National
Health Priority Action Council.
The seven National Health Priority Areas are:

asthma

cancer control

cardio-vascular disease

diabetes mellitus

injury prevention and control

mental health

arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions.

The diseases and conditions targeted were chosen because they are areas of high
health burden within the community. The initiative seeks to improve the health
and wellbeing of the Australian population through:

reducing the burden of illness

reducing health inequalities

providing access to quality health care and health services

developing and maintaining partnerships through the health sector and the
community.

Individual National Health Priority Areas

Asthma

Copyright Pearson Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)

People, Food and Health

Asthma is an inflammatory disease of the air passages, making them prone to
narrowing and increased mucus production. It becomes difficult for the sufferer to
move air in and out of the lungs. Severe asthma attacks can result in death.
Asthma is one of the priorities of the NHPA program as the prevalence of asthma
has increased in recent years. According to the Department of Health and Ageing
over two million (11%) Australians are affected. This statistic includes one in four
primary school children, one in seven adolescents and one in ten adults.
A significant burden is placed on the Australian community in terms of health,
social, economic and emotional costs. School absenteeism, child emergency
department attendance and admission to hospital are often attributed to asthma.
More the 60,000 Australians are admitted to hospital annually due to asthma.
Cancer control
The term cancer refers to a diverse range of diseases characterised by the growth
and spread of abnormal cells. These abnormal cells invade, destroy and multiply
in an uncontrollable manner and spread to surrounding tissues and other areas of
the body.
Different cancers behave in different ways. They spread and grow at different
rates and it is believed most cancers have a unique set of factors causing them to
occur.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare cancer currently
accounts for 30.2% of male deaths and 25.2% of female deaths each year.
Approximately 345,000 people are diagnosed with cancer each year and at
prevailing cancer rates it may be expected that one in three men and one in four
women could be directly affected by cancer by the age of 75.
Cardiovascular disease
Cardiovascular disease includes all diseases of the heart and blood vessels. The
major diseases are coronary heart disease, stroke, heart failure and peripheral
vascular disease. These are mainly caused by damaged blood supply to the heart,
brain and legs, and share a number of risk factors.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare statistics show that cardiovascular
disease causes more deaths than any other disease, accounting for 40% of all
deaths in Australia. It is the most costly disease for the Australian health system,
responsible for 12% of total recurrent health expenditure in 1993-4.
Diabetes mellitus
Diabetes is the condition in which the body is unable to use digested sugar or
glucose efficiently. Without glucose, cells can become damaged and may die. If
glucose is not absorbed from the blood, the glucose stays in the blood stream and
the blood glucose level increases. It is then excreted in the urine, putting extra
strain on the kidneys and extracting extra water from the body.
There are several forms of diabetes:
Type 1 diabetes: this is one of the most common conditions in childhood,
although about half of all new cases are among adults. Type 1 diabetes (insulin
dependent diabetes mellitus, IDDM) accounts for 10-15% of people with diabetes
and occurs because there is a lack of the hormone insulin in the body.

Copyright Pearson Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)

People, Food and Health

Type 2 diabetes: This type of diabetes is a chronic condition amongst people in
the over 40 years age group, but the number of children and people under 40
years being diagnosed with this condition is increasing. In type 2 diabetes (noninsulin dependent diabetes mellitus, NIDDM) the available insulin is not used
effectively because the receptors on the cells are not working efficiently. As a
result, glucose moves into the cells at a very slow rate. Type 2 diabetes
represents more than 85% of all cases of diabetes in Australia.
Gestational diabetes mellitus: This type of diabetes occurs during pregnancy.
About 4-6% of Australian women not previously known to have diabetes develop
gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) during pregnancy. Diabetes and its
complications contribute significantly to ill health, disability and premature death
in Australia. In recognition of its impact on the Australian community it became a
National Health Priority Area in 1996.
Injury prevention
This National Health Priority Area aims to reduce the incidence and severity of
injury in the Australian population. Injuries result in an estimated 8,000
thousand, or 6% of deaths each year in Australia and are responsible for an
estimated 400,000 hospital admissions annually. Injuries are the principle cause
of death in almost half of the people under 45 years of age and account for a
range of physical, cognitive and psychological disabilities accounting for
approximately 8% of the total direct costs of all diseases annually.
Mental health
One in five Australians will experience a mental illness in their lifetime. Mental
illness is a general term that refers to a group of illnesses. Episodes of a mental
illness can come and go in periods through a person's life. Some people
experience their illness only once and fully recover. For others, it recurs
throughout their life.
Mental illness can be separated into two main categories: psychotic and nonpsychotic.
Arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions
Arthritis is the term used to describe a disorder of one or more joints. Arthritis
disorders are part of a broader group of disorders of the muscles and bones called
musculoskeletal disorders.
The three most commonly occurring musculoskeletal conditions are osteoarthritis,
rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis.
Over three million Australians suffer from arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions.
Of this figure approximately 2.66 million Australians suffer from arthritis,
representing about 15 per cent of the population. The Australian Institute of
Health and Welfare estimates that 75,000 years of healthy life are lost to arthritis
every year, with 3,000 years attributed to premature death.

References
Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2002), Australia's Health 2002,
Canberra: AIHW.

Copyright Pearson Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)

People, Food and Health

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2001), Heart, stroke and vascular
diseases-Australian facts 2001. AIHW Cat. No. CVD 13. Canberra: AIHW, National
Heart Foundation of Australia, National Stroke Foundation of Australia.
Home Economic Institute of Australia Inc. (2003), Nutrition the Inside Story.
HEIA, Macquarie, ACT.

Copyright Pearson Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)