Australia’s health and economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic can be accelerated if the next federal government reflects on the lessons from COVID-19 and takes concerted action to improve the health and wellbeing of every person, the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) says.
The country’s peak public health body has launched its priorities for the upcoming federal election which emphasises efforts across seven areas – all of which have remained important even while the coronavirus pandemic has been our most immediate concern that we’ve subdued for the moment.
The areas are:
1. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health
2. Investment in health prevention
3. Public health workforce
4. Establish a Centre for Disease Control and Prevention
5. Mitigating unethical marketing
6. Climate and health
7. Healthy democracy and public policy-making
“COVID-19 continues to compromise human health, disrupt our society and economy and challenge all three levels of government in our federal system,” says PHAA CEO, Adjunct Professor Terry Slevin.
“The pandemic has provided us with a stark reminder that our entire community is reliant on effective public and preventive health and disease control systems, and that these systems must be funded and strengthened today in order to build capacity for tomorrow.
“We’re determined to put these seven areas on the national agenda, because intensifying our efforts to improve each of them will result in massive, inter-generational improvements to the health of every person in Australia alive today, and those to come.”
“After a bushfire we review our firefighting and fire prevention capacity, and invest in its improvement. After a major security threat, we review and boost our security systems. We must take the same approach with our public health systems and investment post COVID-19.”
PHAA President, Professor Tarun Weeramanthri, adds: “We need to intensify our collective efforts across all areas of public health, so that no-one is left behind. We need to remember those traditional areas of public health whose importance did not wane while we responded to the worst pandemic in a century, and respond to the new imperatives of climate action, challenging unfair commercial practices, and increasing institutional transparency and accountability.”
