Appendix 1: Public Health Issues

Public health issues include a wide range of problems, concerns, and dangers which might be faced by a council. Whether or not any of these are a priority for a given council will depend on local circumstances. Obviously, pollution of the ocean beaches is not a problem likely to be faced by an inland municipality. The list below is not intended to be comprehensive, nor does it necessarily capture the element or "angle" on the issues which any particular council might want to highlight.

Nevertheless, it may offer some ideas and represent something of a preliminary checklist for councils when thinking actual and potential public health dangers affecting the municipal district:

• Safety in children's playgrounds
• Disposal of toxic wastes.
• Quality of food nutrition among older people, children,
• Water quality in rivers and streams
• Air pollution and Asthma.
• Unsafe roads and footpaths
• Impact of ageing population on accommodation needs, monitoring of boarding houses etc,
• immunisation of children
• Advocacy of improved standards in community housing
• smoking
• Cardiovascular disease(physical activity and recreation opportunities, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, fat and salt in diet)
• Home swimming pool drowning.
• Skin cancer.
• AIDS (safe disposal of needles, condoms, etc; advocacy for programs to reduce harmful drug use, particularly among IV drug users.
• Health problems of Kooris (eg nutrition, diarrhoeal diseases, Hepatitis B and other infectious diseases.
• On street and of street lighting (eg in parks)
• Particular needs of people of non-English speaking background.
• Depression among women who are socially or geographically isolated.
• Risk assessment
• Work related health care risks-especially vulnerable groups of workers
• Infant mortality/morbidity among socially disadvantaged groups.
• Nuclear free zones
• Farm accidents
• Family planning
• Home help /maintenance (eg services to prevent orthopaedic injuries - bathroom rails etc)
• Alcohol free recreation venues.
• Sexual assault and domestic violence
• Peace and disarmament
• Fluoridation
• Housing and health
• Impact of inadequate public transport on public health
• Personal/family trauma; grieving.