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Election commitments needed on public health
22 November 2010.
With just five days until the 27 November election, the Labor Party and Liberal/National Coalition must outline their plans to reduce Victorians’ major health risk factors and tackle obesity, inactivity, smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, AMA Victoria President Dr Harry Hemley said today.
"Both major parties have made strong commitment in acute health to reduce patient waits for elective surgery and emergency care, but announcements on preventative health have been almost absent from this election campaign," Dr Hemley said.
"The Labor Party’s announcements today to increase bowel cancer screening and develop a skin cancer awareness campaign are certainly worthy priorities but should be seen as the start of a preventive health plan.
"The next Victorian Government needs to get serious about tacking obesity, which contributes to a number of preventable conditions and is an enormous burden on the economy," Dr Hemley said.
"Three quarters of Victorian men and more than half of Australian women are overweight or obese. The health and social costs of obesity will continue to grow without strong government leadership."
Dr Hemley said the Brumby Government had been a leader on tobacco reform in the past but risked lagging behind by failing to tighten licensing regulation and ban smoking in outdoor dining areas.
"Neither the Labor Party or the Opposition have committed to protecting outdoor diners from second had smoke by banning smoking in alfresco dining areas," he said. "Queensland and WA have implemented these bans – it’s time Victoria caught up."
"Smoking is still the largest preventable cause of death and disease in Victoria. We need to continue to reduce the number of Victorians who smoke and are subjected to second hand smoke."
AMA Victoria has put forward a plan for tobacco vendor license fees of $2,000 to make retailers think twice about stocking cigarettes. "The reduced availability would make it far more difficult for smokers to buy tobacco, particularly after-hours,” Dr Hemley said.
"This could provide the nudge some smokers need to cut back or quit."
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