Health & wellbeing issues

National Health Priority Areas

The National Health Priority Areas are areas of health 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 National Health Priority Areas are:

• Arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions
• Asthma
• Cancer control
• Cardiovascular health
• Diabetes mellitus
• Injury prevention and control (National), Injury prevention (State)
• Mental health

Integrated Health Promotion (IHP) Priorities 2004-2006

From 2004 to 2006, to provide greater direction and leadership for health promotion in Victoria, the Department is establishing key topics and one setting as Priorities for IHP.

The five key topics and related Victorian websites are:

• Physical Activity - visit Go for your life - Information for professionals (Active Living)

• Food and Nutrition - visit Public Health Nutrition and Go for your life - Information for professionals Healthy Eating

• Mental Wellbeing and Social Connectedness - visit VicHealth

• Tobacco, Alcohol and Other Drug issues - visit Drugs and alcohol in Victoria and Tobacco Reforms

• Healthy Weight - visit Obesity and Go for your life - Information for professionals (home page)

The setting is neighbourhood renewal sites (where a Neighbourhood Renewal program exists in the PCP catchment).

Consolidating IHP to focus on these priorities will enable integrated local/regional approaches to health promotion such as those initiated through Primary Care Partnerships (PCPs) ie. agencies/organisations and community representatives (key stakeholders) to be aligned and contribute to, and benefit from, statewide and national directions.

These include the:

• Victorian Government’s obesity and diabetes prevention strategies that place an emphasis on increasing levels of physical activity, improving options for healthy eating and achieving healthy weight.
• Victorian Government’s support of neighbourhood renewal, community building, municipal public health planning and the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation Strategic Directions 2003-2006, which all emphasise the importance of social connectedness, supportive environments and the underlying determinants of health.
• Australian Government’s National Health Priority areas (Diabetes, Cardiovascular disease, Mental health, Injury, Arthritis, Asthma).

Focussing of these topics will contribute to preventing and minimising the effects of a range of diseases and conditions such diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic disease, falls and other injuries, suicide and other mental illness, asthma, arthritis, food insecurity, dental caries and related oral disease. This contribution is vital in reducing avoidable hospital admissions caused by the ambulatory care sensitive conditions and ultimately in reducing the sizeable burden of disease in Victoria.These five also capture the most identified priorities from local needs assessments and health promotion activity implemented by the Primary Health Care agencies and organisations.

Recognising the need for a continuous quality priority setting process, the priorities will be reviewed by the Public Health Group in partnership with other key Departmental program areas leading up to 2006-07 so as to establish DHS Statewide priorities for 2006-2009.

Search for further information on State and National health and wellbeing issues resources and links (including Oral Health Promotion).

top of page