Chronic conditions behind 9 in 10 deaths: Grattan

Chronic conditions are the biggest killer in Australia, contributing to 9 in 10 deaths, according to a new Grattan Institute report titled ‘The Australian Centre for Disease Control (ACDC): Highway to health’.

Australia is sleepwalking into a sicker future that will condemn millions of Australians to living with avoidable disease and disability, the report warns.

The burden is heaviest on the most disadvantaged Australians, who are twice as likely to have two or more chronic conditions, said Grattan in a statement. And the toll will keep growing, because many of the causes of chronic disease, such as obesity, are rising dramatically.

The report shows that the ACDC — promised by Labor in the lead-up to the 2022 federal election — should be at the heart of a new national project to prevent chronic disease.

The proposed new body must be independent, and governments must also commit to more prevention funding, the report suggests.

Adjunct Professor Terry Slevin, CEO, Public Health Association of Australia, agreed and urged the government to look beyond the here-and-now of hospital beds and treatments and address the bigger picture, before it’s too late.

“This new report hammers home the incoming tsunami of chronic disease,” he said.

“More Australians are getting sick with preventable disease. Today, almost one in two Australians live with chronic disease, and the burden of chronic disease has increased by 38% over the past three decades. We are facing an influx of preventable deaths and disability.

“It’s ironic that governments are spending more and more money treating sick people, while investment in measures that stop people getting sick in the first place has remained low.

“Even during the height of the pandemic, total government spending on prevention was just 3.7% of the total health budget, well below the modest 5% recommended in the National Preventive Health Strategy.

“We welcomed the Labor Party’s 2022 election promise to create an Australian Centre for Disease Control with chronic disease prevention as a central remit. The potential was simple — it was a move that would help stop people getting sick.

“2023 is the perfect opportunity for the Albanese government to deliver on its election promise and create a meaningful legacy that will keep future generations healthy — if they get it right from the onset.

“The forthcoming centre must have prevention and the National Preventive Health Strategy as a key priority from the get-go. It’s crucial that it also has substantial funding, the right legislative framework, immunity from political and commercial interference, and the ability to build collaboration across states and territories.

“As Australia is the only OECD country without a Centre for Disease Control, we need a body that can look beyond today’s demand on health services and plan for the future.

“The Grattan Institute estimates that to fund a similar disease control body to those in Finland and Norway would cost up to $600 million in Australia, and that’s the sort of figure public health experts will be anticipating in the May 2023 federal Budget,” Slevin said.

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