The Department of Health has invited public consultation on its draft National Preventive Health Strategy.
The Department’s 10-year Strategy aims to improve the health of all Australians at all stages of life with the target of seeing people live an additional two years of life in good health by 2030.
“This includes people in low socio-economic groups and in regional and remote areas,” the Department said.
“The Strategy provides the overarching, long-term approach to prevention in Australia by working to build systemic change to ensure the best outcomes for all Australians.”
It said areas of focus for the next 10 years were identified in the Strategy as well as evidence-based policy achievements.
“The Strategy will aim to help Australians improve their health at all stages of life, through early intervention, better information, targeting risk factors and addressing the broader causes of poor health and wellbeing,” the Department said.
“It recognises that health is not just the presence or absence of disease or injury — more holistically, it is a state of wellbeing.
It said the Strategy’s approach was not disease-specific but rather, it focused on system-wide, evidence-based approaches to reducing poor health.
The Department noted that since September 2019, more than 6,000 people had been consulted on the development of the Strategy. It expected the final version to be launched in the middle of the year.
Public consultation is open until 19 April and the 88-page Draft Strategy can be accessed at this PS News link.
