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30 Business View Australia - August 2015
average of 8.9% of GDP, Australia’s
health expenditure is at 8.8%.
Another important role played by
the PHAA is that it promotes specific
programs and initiatives that are
linked to public health. It has recently
partnered with the Foundation for
Alcohol Research and Education
to take up the issue of chronic
diseases and launch the
Prevention
1
st
campaign, which aims to get the
government and political parties to
adopt a strong preventive health
agenda to address the country’s
greatest health challenge.
The
Prevention 1
st
campaign seeks
to highlight the fact that chronic
diseases are responsible for 83% of all
premature deaths in Australia, making
it the nation’s greatest health issue.
The incidence of conditions like heart
disease, stroke, heart failure, chronic
kidney disease, lung disease and type
2 diabetes has been increasing in the
country and stretching the resources
of the health system. These diseases
cost the community $27 billion and
account for more than a third of the
health budget.
Recently the PHAA has also joined
forces with more than 50 civil
society groups and called upon the
government to commit to zero carbon
pollution in Australia by 2050. It is an
acknowledged fact that the emission
HEALTHCARE