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‘Urgent action’ required to stem Australia’s chronic disease burden: ACDPA
Australia needs to improve its efforts in disease prevention in order to improve gaps in life expectancy between the ‘haves and have nots’, according to the Australian Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance.
The ACDPA believes Australia needs a stronger commitments to tackle chronic disease risk factors such as growing obesity, poor diet, physical inactivity and excess alcohol consumption.
Speaking ahead a non-communicable diseases forum at Parliament House earlier today, Chair of the Australian Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance (ACDPA), Professor Sanchia Aranda, said urgent action is needed to avoid an increase in the gap in chronic disease burden between high socioeconomic and low socioeconomic populations in Australia.
While she believes Australia has experienced some successes in chronic disease prevention, Professor Aranda said there has also been some ‘major underperformance’.
‘For instance, while we are considered a world leader in tobacco control, smoking remains the leading preventable cause of disease burden,’ she said. ‘And we need to make stronger commitments to tackle other chronic disease risk factors, including growing obesity, poor diet, physical inactivity and excess alcohol consumption.
‘We also need to acknowledge that the poorest parts of our community are the ones disproportionally affected by preventable chronic disease, particularly in those communities where lifestyle risk factors are higher.
‘The burden of chronic disease increases in step with financial disadvantage.’
The
ACDPA consists of Cancer Council Australia, Diabetes Australia, National Heart Foundation of Australia, Kidney Health Australia, and the Stroke Foundation. The organisation is designed to
‘provide an independent voice addressing shared modifiable risk factors for chronic disease’.
‘Chronic diseases are still the leading cause of death and ill health worldwide and, currently, one in two Australians are living with a chronic disease,’ Professor Aranda said.
‘As our Australian population ages the number of us living with chronic disease is expected to balloon. That’s why urgent commitment to action is needed now, so we can continue to showcase to the world that Australia is a leader in disease prevention.’
Representatives of various healthcare organisations and members of parliament attended today’s forum. According to the ACDPA, it was convened in order to focus on disease control inequities in the lead-up to the United Nations’
High Level Meeting on Non-communicable Diseases to be held in September.
Australian Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance chronic disease non-communicable disease
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