WHO wants health equality
Researchers say billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money would be saved every year, and Australians would be much healthier, if the World Health Organisation’s recommendations to improve health through all areas of government policy were adopted.
By Stephen Easton
Australians would be significantly healthier and billions of taxpayer dollars would be saved if the government adopted a World Health Organisation (WHO) plan to close the health gap between rich and poor, a new report argues.
In 2008, the WHO published the final report of its Commission on Social Determinants of Health, which contains a detailed list of recommendations to work towards a situation where all citizens enjoy equally good health, regardless of how well off they are financially.
To encourage the government to act decisively and improve the health of Australians across the whole socio-economic spectrum, Catholic Health Australia (CHA) commissioned the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) to produce the report, The cost of inaction on the social determinants of health, published today.
The study, which is the first of its kind, estimates that if Australia’s rich-poor health gap was closed through the kinds of policies recommended by the WHO in 2008, half a million people would avoid chronic illness and $2.3 billion per year would be saved in hospital costs.
Other potential gains listed in the report include over $400 million from reductions in both Medicare claims and medications subsidised by taxpayers under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, and $3-4 billion in savings from providing less welfare payments, every year.
“To achieve these gains, we don’t need to reform the health system,” CHA chief executive Martin Laverty said. “We need to target existing education and social programs to better serve the needs of those in socioeconomic disadvantage.”
The new report is the second produced from NATSEM research and commissioned by CHA, and follows on from Health lies in wealth: Health inequalities in Australians of working age, published in 2010, which confirmed that health in Australia is strongly linked to wealth.
In releasing the new report, CHA called for a senate inquiry into how Australia can follow the WHO’s 2008 policy recommendations, a suggestion that appears to have been received loud and clear by the Minister for Mental Health, Ageing and Social Inclusion, Mark Butler.
“Australians generally have a good standard of living compared to other countries,” Mr Butler said in a statement acknowledgeing the report, which was released to coincide with its publication.
“However evidence suggests that about 1 in 20 Australians experience multiple disadvantages that affect their ability to participate fully in Australian society. Having a job, a roof over your head and a good quality education generally leads to better health outcomes.”
The Senate Standing Committee would “consider the matter for their work program for this year,” the minister added, and would be able to draw on the new CHA study as well as “international contributions, including those made through the World Health Organisation and the Rio Political Declaration of 2011 which confirmed Member States’ commitment to take action to address the social determinants of health”.
WHO member states, including Australia, adopted a resolution in May endorsing the 2011 Rio Political Declaration on Social Determinants of Health, which includes a list of broad commitments to tackle the root causes of health inequity, although such resolutions do not bind members to any specific actions.
The Rio Declaration advocates embedding health in all policies, and suggests in several areas that governments should maintain comprehensive universal public healthcare for their citizens, despite the global economic downturn.
“The current global economic and financial crisis urgently requires the adoption of actions to reduce increasing health inequities and prevent worsening of living conditions and the deterioration of universal health care and social protection systems,” the declaration states among its 16 points, which between them contain a raft of 50 separate pledges.
“…We, Heads of Government, Ministers and government representatives, solemnly reaffirm our resolve to take action on social determinants of health to create vibrant, inclusive, equitable, economically productive and healthy societies, and to overcome national, regional and global challenges to sustainable development,” the declaration continues. “We offer our solid support for these common objectives and our determination to achieve them.”
