Cardiovascular disease and diabetes - OECD report

Cardiovascular disease and diabetes - OECD report

Diabetes Health policy Heart disease

Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes: Policies for Better Health and Quality of Care examines how countries perform in their ability to prevent, manage and treat cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes. The last 50 years have witnessed remarkable improvements in CVD outcomes. Since 1960, overall CVD mortality rates have fallen by over 60%, but these improvements are not evenly spread across OECD countries, and the rising prevalence of diabetes and obesity are threatening to offset gains.

OECD (2015), Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes: Policies for Better Health and Quality of Care, OECD Health Policy Studies, OECD Publishing, Paris.  DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264233010-en

NB - pdf version requires a subscription - use the "read" option to read chapters online.

Antimicrobial resistance strategy

Antimicrobial resistance strategy

Antibiotics Global health Health policy Public Health

Responding to the threat of antimicrobial resistance: Australia's first national antimicrobial resistance strategy 2015–2019 has been released by the Australian Government this month. It was developed in partnership with industry and government, including the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare and aims to guide actions by governments, health professionals, farmers and veterinarians to respond to the threat of antibiotic misuse and resistance.

The Strategy document discusses the looming public health issues globally and nationally related to antimicrobial resistance and “calls on all stakeholders to support a collaborative effort to change those practices that have contributed to the development of resistance and implement new initiatives to reduce inappropriate antibiotic usage and resistance.”

E-cigarettes: regulatory and policy options

E-cigarettes: regulatory and policy options

Health policy Smoking

geograph.ie

A briefing paper just published by the NSW Parliamentary Research Office offers an overview of the legal position in respect to e-cigarettes, as well as a summary of research findings and an overview of the current debate.  

 

E-cigarettes: regulatory and policy options by Gareth Griffith, begins with a description of e-cigarettes and the various forms they come in - with or without nicotine. The author goes on to look at the health risks, while acknowledging that the body of evidence is still small, and then looks at regulations and policies in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canad and New Zealand.  

'The downward trend in smoking ... is a public health success story. It is understandable that public health professionals and others should seek to guard against any new innovation that might jeopardise the advances that have been made in this field. It is in that context that much of the debate about e-cigarettes occurs.  In essence, the question is not whether e-cigarettes should be regulated or not; rather, it is about the degree of regulation required for e-cigarettes of all kinds, those containing and those not containing nicotine.”

Mental health services review

Mental health services review

Health policy Mental health

The National Mental Health Commission has conducted a review of mental health programs and services, focusing on assessing their efficiency and effectiveness in supporting individuals experiencing mental ill-health and their families and other support people to engage productively in the community. The Report of the National Review of Mental Health Programmes and Services is now available.

The Review provides 25 recommendations across nine strategic directions which guide a detailed implementation framework of activity over the next decade.

Mental Health and the National Disability Insurance Scheme: Position Paper

Mental Health and the National Disability Insurance Scheme: Position Paper

Health policy Mental health

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) represents a major opportunity to deliver much-needed services and support for people with a range of disabilities. The Mental Health Council of Australia (MHCA) supports the NDIS, especially given the bi-partisan commitment to increasing funding to support people with significant ongoing disabilities over the next few years. It is absolutely appropriate that the scheme includes people with a psychosocial disability related to mental illness. However, the MHCA has strong concerns about the implications of the scheme for mental health consumers, carers and service providers. These concerns relate to the design of the NDIS, the status of existing services, and the likely impact on future mental health programs. This position paper outlines the current challenges and provides some suggestions on how to resolve them. (APO 15 November 2013)

Health System Expenditure on Cancer and Other Neoplasms in Australia 2008-09

Health System Expenditure on Cancer and Other Neoplasms in Australia 2008-09

Cancer Chronic Disease Health policy

Health system expenditure on cancer and other neoplasms inAustralia, 2008-09 presents an overview of cancer expenditure focusing on the six cancers with the highest health system expenditure in each of four life stages 0-14, 15-24, 25-64 and 65 years and over. Findings include:

 - Cancer and other neoplasms ranked sixth in terms of estimated health system expenditure on chronic diseases, accounting for 6.9% of total health system expenditure on all chronic diseases;

 - Expenditure on national population screening programs totalled $332 million;

 - From 2000-01 to 2008-09, total health system expenditure on cancer increased by 56% from $2,894 million to $4,526 million. 

NDIS Launch Sites: Projection of the Number of Young People in Residential Aged Care

NDIS Launch Sites: Projection of the Number of Young People in Residential Aged Care

Disabilities Health policy

The launch of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) on 1 July 2013, heralded the start of a new era for people with disability in Australia. PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Summer Foundation have been collaborating to undertake a projection of people aged under 65 living in aged care nursing homes in the three NDIS launch sites that are targeting people in this group: Australian Capital Territory, the Hunter region of New South Wales and the Barwon region of Victoria. The Report estimates that although the NDIS will have been operational in the NDIS launch sites for three years, there will be an additional 40 young people living in nursing homes in these launch sites by June 2016. The report provides an estimate of the unmet needs and resources required for housing and support in the NDIS launch sites. (APO 2 October 2013)