While Australia can ’ metric ton so far call to be the healthiest country, we ’ rhenium not excessively far from the crown. Australians are living longer compared to most OECD nations and we are largely felicitous with our health. In fact, 85 per cent of us pace our health deoxyadenosine monophosphate good to excellent .
But delve a little deep and the count of Australians with chronic disease risk factors provides a reality discipline .
globally, Australia has one of the highest rates of fleshy and fleshiness – a leading hazard factor for heart disease, stroke, cancers, kidney disease and type 2 diabetes. In regional Australia, corpulence and fleshiness is more prevailing, affecting up to 78 per penny of men. besides concerning is generational switch, with one in four children immediately overweight or corpulent.
Reading: Australia – the healthy country?
Our alcohol consumption is h igher than the OECD average and, in concert with smoking, more prevailing in regional areas compared to cities. unhealthy diets, physical inaction and high blood pressure are early common gamble factors that will impact longevity and quality of life for the next generation if we don ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate intervene now .
Why does risk matter?
One in two Australians have a chronic disease and one in five have multiple conditions. yet much disease could be prevented through timely gamble assessment and early detection to improve discussion options .
cardiovascular disease is a leading campaign of death in Australia, yet it is largely preventable. At the same time 1.5 million people are living with undiagnosed kidney disease and around 500,000 people have undiagnosed type 2 diabetes. The longer these conditions remain undetected and untreated, the more probable they are to progress to good conditions with long-run complications.
For many people in regional Australia, the effects of chronic disease are amplified due to geographic challenges in accessing diagnosis, treatment, and care. For exemplar, regional Australians are more likely to experience a solidus but less probable to receive the manage they need .
A focus on risk assessment and early detection
The australian Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance ( ACDPA ) is calling for a national focus on chronic disease risk judgment and early detection in the National Preventive Health Strategy .
There is potent testify supporting gamble assessment and early detection as cost-efficient and feasible solutions to prevent and control chronic disease. The World Health Organization recommends absolute cardiovascular disease gamble appraisal as a ‘ Best Buy ’ and australian model recommends screening for type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease.
ACDPA members are presently updating the Absolute Cardiovascular Disease Risk guidelines to reflect the latest available attest. Led by the Heart Foundation, members are bringing in concert experts around Australia to update the existing guidelines and risk assessment calculator, which assists GPs to calculate patients ’ risk of vascular disease .
The Heart Health Check MBS item supports GPs to assess and manage cardiovascular disease gamble, and recent data highlight the pressing need to besides consider undetected diabetes and kidney disease. One in four eligible Australians are at clinically high hazard of heart disease or stroke ascribable to age or other conditions like preexistent diabetes and/or kidney disease .
Australia is not however the healthiest country, but we can aspire to reach this finish by 2030. We must be bold, determined, and grim in our avocation to do better for ourselves and future generations. Any long travel starts with the first mistreat, thus let us start by prioritising risk judgment and early detection to prevent chronic disease and reduce health disparities across Australia .