Transcript National Health Priority Areas

NATIONAL HEALTH PRIORITY
AREAS
What is a National Health
Priority Area?
 National Health Priority Areas (NHPAs) are diseases and








conditions chosen for focused attention at a national level
because of their significant contribution to the burden of
illness and injury in the Australian community.
The seven NHPAs identified for particular attention are:
Arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions
Asthma
Cancer control
Cardiovascular health
Diabetes mellitus
Injury prevention and control
Mental health.
What is the National Health
Priority Areas initiative?
 The NHPA initiative, established in 1996, is a
program emphasising collaborative action
between Commonwealth and State and Territory
government, non-government organisations,
health experts, clinicians and consumers, for
specific diseases and conditions. The initiative
recognises that the strategies for reducing the
burden of illness should be pluralistic,
encompassing the continuum of care from
prevention through to treatment, management
and maintenance, and based on appropriate
research and data sources.
 By targeting specific areas that impose high
social and financial costs on Australian
society, collaborative action can achieve
significant and cost-effective advances in
improving the health status of Australians.
The diseases and conditions targeted under
the NHPA initiative were chosen because
through appropriate and focused attention
significant gains in the health of Australias
population can be achieved.
Risk factors
NHPA disease smoking
or condition
Physical Poor diet
inactivity &
nutrition
Excess
body
weight
High
blood
pressure
High
cholesterol
Type 2 Diabetes
X
X
X
Asthma
X
Coronary heart
X
disease
Stroke
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Lung cancer
Colorectal
cancer
Osteoarthritis
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
osteoporosis
X
X
Tobacco smoking
 Of all the health risk factors, smoking is responsible for the
greatest burden of disease in Australia, around 12% of the total
burden of disease in males and 7% in females in 1996.
 Cigarettes and other tobacco products contain carcinogens
(cancer-causing agents), nicotine (an addictive agent) and
numerous other poisonous substances. People who use tobacco
have an increased risk of developing coronary heart disease,
stroke, heart failure, peripheral vascular disease, lung cancer,
cervical cancer and osteoporosis. These risks increase with the
number of cigarettes smoked daily, with the number of years of
smoking, and especially when the habit is started at an early
age.
 Tobacco smoke affects not only the individual user, but also others
who may be exposed to it. Environmental tobacco smoke has
been shown to be associated particularly with the exacerbation of
childhood respiratory diseases such as asthma.
Poor diet and nutrition
 Poor diets often result from over-consumption of
food in general, or diets high in energy-rich
components such as fat. A poor diet may also be low
in dietary fibres or complex carbohydrates, and
deficient in certain vitamins and minerals. This
contributes to coronary heart disease, stroke, Type 2
diabetes and some forms of cancer such as
colorectal cancer and post-menopausal breast
cancer.
 Poor diet and nutrition also contributes to a variety
of other health risk factors such as high blood
pressure, excess weight and high blood cholesterol.
Excess body weight
 Excess body weight has been clearly linked with
increased risk of mortality and morbidity from heart and
vascular diseases, such as coronary heart disease, stroke,
heart failure and peripheral vascular disease. There is
also substantial evidence for a causal relationship
between excess body weight and increased risk for a
number of NHPA diseases such as Type 2 diabetes,
gestational diabetes and some cancers such as colorectal
cancer, prostate cancer and post-menopausal breast
cancer.
 The risk of developing more than one NHPA disease or
condition also increases with increasing levels of excess
weight. Overweight was estimated to account for 4.3%
of the total burden of disease in Australia in 1996
High blood pressure
 High blood pressure is a major risk factor for a
range of cardiovascular diseases. The risk of
disease increases as the level of blood
pressure increases. It can be controlled via
changes in nutrition, weight, physical activity
and medication. The burden of disease in
Australia that can be attributed to high blood
pressure was estimated to be more than 5%
of the total burden in DALY terms among
Australians in 1996.
High blood cholesterol
 High blood cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia) means there
is too much cholesterol (a fat-like substance) in the blood.
This leads to the build up of cholesterol, on the walls of the
arteries of the heart and other parts of the body, in a
process called atherosclerosis, resulting in the arteries
becoming clogged and having decreased or inhibited blood
flow.
 High blood cholesterol is a major risk factor for coronary
heart disease, the single greatest cause of death and
disability in Australia. It is also associated with an increased
risk of ischaemic stroke, heart failure and peripheral
vascular disease. For most people, a diet high in saturated
fat is the main factor that raises blood cholesterol levels.
High blood cholesterol accounted for almost 3% of the total
burden of disease of Australians in 1996.