There is one easy, preventative health plan that Rudd could implement: forcing plain packaging of cigarettes. Plain packaging “can kill your business” says the tobacco industry. Precisely.
Preventive health
Sweet: For Rudd it’s all about hospitals, hospitals, hospitals
Kevin Rudd has his sights firmly set on fixing hospitals rather than the population’s health. We’re talking elective surgery waiting lists and hip replacements, rather than reorientating the system towards better support for early childhood and families and for people with chronic illnesses or those who are otherwise under-served. I’m trying not to feel deflated, writes Melissa Sweet.
Make mental health part of the prevention debate
In all the debate about the effectiveness of preventative healthcare in Australia, please don’t forget about the often overlooked issue of mental health, says epidemiologist Dr Brian O’Toole.
Rudd should sink his teeth into reducing sugar consumption
Since everyone is in wild agreement that the cause of tooth decay is sugar, why are we not acting to restrict its consumption?, asks David Gillespie.
Prevention is impractical, but try telling that to the PM
Prevention is a health economist’s dream given the ageing of the population and the growth of chronic diseases. It’s better than cure, PM Kevin Rudd agreed yesterday, three times. But is that really true?
Fag, booze and food hikes suck: give the poor SODS a break
Pity those who are smoking, obese, drinkers (SODs), writes Gavin Mooney.
Is Rudd’s margin too fat to worry about promoting exercise?
At a time when 47% of Australians are so inactive that they are at excessive risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes, radical legislation that has directly led to a substantial drop in physical activity should be seen as a disaster, writes Dr John Orchard.
Throwing money at preventive health is nice, but what’s the plan?
A salutary lesson comes from hospital reforms in the UK, where substantial funding increases have been slow to have a real impact on health outcomes, writes Dr Lesley Russell.
