Politicians are talking a good game but not walking the walk, say consumer advocates.
A group of 18 consumer health advocacy groups have formed a Coalition for Preventative Health Funding, saying politicians are talking supportively but not committing to investment into prevention.
Led by the Consumers Health Forum of Australia, the coalition met at Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday to call for four key actions.
The CPHF wants:
- The Australian government and the 48th parliament to commit to 5% of the health budget being spent on prevention. It currently stands at less than 2%;
- The government to engage the CPHF in a codesign/advisory capacity about how the funding should be spent;
- The 5% funding to flow through to CPHF members to do prevention work with their communities; and,
- The Commonwealth to fund a secretariat component to help administer the CPHF.
While the focus of the CPHF is community-based prevention, through education and health promotion, rather than preventative healthcare through primary care, the premise of politicians not walking the walk when it comes to preventative health is a rhetoric that resonates.
“Our members and sector partners have consistently highlighted the urgent need for greater funding in preventive health,” said CHF CEO Dr Elizabeth Deveny.
“While many politicians express agreement during our discussions in Parliament, this support rarely translates into substantial investment in community-based preventive health measures on Budget night.
“We know Australians want to stay well and avoid getting sick in the first place.
“If the government adequately funded preventive measures, we could ensure the right tools and resources are activated in our communities at the right time and in the right way.”
Dr Deveny said that how and where preventative investment is spent should involve community consultation.
“Covid taught us that a one-size-fits-all approach to health promotion and prevention simply doesn’t work,” said Dr Deveny.
“The coalition’s goal is to amplify the voices of consumers, giving Australians and their communities greater opportunities to stay healthy and productive.”
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The CPHF called on all members of parliament and senators to address prevention as a fundamental healthcare issue.
“The best way this can be done is through preventative health,” said Dr Deveny.
“We want to ensure the voice of consumers are heard and that representatives are listening, and we feel like there is no better way to do that than launching this coalition in Parliament House.”
The 18 CPHF members are:
- Emerge Australia;
- Chronic Pain Australia;
- Arthritis Australia;
- Hepatitis Australia;
- Health Consumers’ Council WA;
- Health Consumers QLD;
- Consumers Health Forum of Australia;
- Dementia Australia;
- Inherited Cancers Australia;
- Immune Deficiencies Foundation Australia;
- Health Equity Matters;
- Macular Disease Foundation Australia;
- Crohn’s and Colitis Australia;
- Genetic Alliance Australia;
- Health Consumers Tasmania;
- Breast Cancer Network Australia;
- Health Care Consumers’ Association of the ACT; and,
- Cancer Voices NSW.
The GP equivalent of the consumer coalition is the National Council of Primary Care Doctors, which represents ACRRM, AMA, RACGP, RDAA, General Practice Supervision Australia, General Practice Registrars Australia and the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association.
The council has remained fairly quiet over recent years, apart from a recent statement taking a swing at urgent care clinics.
As reported by The Medical Republic, peak nursing bodies have also recently joined forces, with the aim of keeping up momentum on scope of practice reforms.
