Page 1160 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 3 May 2006
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accounting for an estimated 21.9 per cent of the total burden of disease and injury in Australia in 1996.
In the ACT, cardiovascular disease accounts for more than one in three deaths in the community. Almost half of all cardiovascular disease deaths in the ACT are due to heart attack and about a quarter are due to stroke each year. The 2004-05 national health survey estimated that one in every five ACT residents was affected by cardiovascular disease.
We know that smoking, physical inactivity, poor nutrition, excessive alcohol consumption, high blood pressure, a high concentration of certain fats in the blood, obesity and diabetes all increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. If these risks are left unchecked, as the population ages we are likely to see a significant increase in cardiovascular disease in the ACT and significant increases in the demand for associated acute care services.
This increase in demand will see a direct increase in costs to the community. In 2000-01 the Australian expenditure on stroke was $896 million, while nearly $7 billion was spent on other cardiovascular diseases. Heart, stroke and vascular drugs sold through the pharmaceutical benefits scheme cost $1.5 billion in 2000. This is 34 per cent of government and patient costs for all prescription drugs dispensed through pharmacies.
The ACT government is taking steps to prevent cardiovascular disease and therefore these costs to the community. Ms MacDonald mentioned a number of programs that will lead to a healthier adult community and I would like to mention just a few more. The health action plan sets out a number of prevention strategies aimed at reducing the prevalence of modifiable risk factors in the territory. These priority areas include the prevention of smoking, prevention of obesity, improving nutrition and increasing physical activity levels in the ACT. ACT Health provides leadership in this area, working with other ACT government agencies, non-government organisations and community groups to meet the challenge posed by these health risks.
The ACT government’s health promotion unit has developed and implemented its vitality approach to campaigns with the integrated message of “Eat well, be active, feel good about yourself—that’s vitality”. This approach incorporates activities and messages that encourage territorians to eat more fruit and vegetables, to increase their level of physical activity and to focus on their general wellbeing.
Other programs include young people in the ACT receiving alcohol and other drug education through the national school drug education strategy, and planning is under way for the introduction of peer education and mentoring programs in schools. Healthpact, the ACT Health Promotion Board, funds a variety of health-promoting activities in schools and in the community, focusing on smoking prevention, good nutrition and the promotion of physical activity. The heart fare campaign provides group nutrition education for people with one or more risk factors for cardiovascular disease and aims to reduce modifiable risk factors for heart disease
Maternal and childcare health nurses provide best practice nutrition advice to new parents—and I can say that they certainly do; they have just provided it to me. The ACT Diabetes Service is a multidisciplinary nursing and allied health team, situated across
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