Australia obesity & diabetes funding boost
May 9, 2007 - 6:29AM
The federal government will spend almost $900 million to tackle preventable illness and head off the linked epidemics of diabetes and obesity.
The package also includes a new AIDS campaign in the face of rising HIV infection rates, 20 years after the original Grim Reaper advertisement hit television screens.
Patients with chronic and complex illness will be able to spend more time with their GP through the creation of a new Medicare item, expected to cost $291 million over four years, that allows longer consultations.
And about 150,000 school children are expected to benefit from an after school sports program which has been extended for another three years.
The Active After-School Communities program has been given $124.4 million, and is expected to be run at more than 3,250 sites by the end of the year.
About $10.6 million will be spent over four years to collect detailed information about Australians' weight, nutrition and exercise in a survey involving up to 14,000 participants.
Another $3 million will be spent on creating a CSIRO Wellbeing Plan for Children, to provide practical advise to parents on healthy eating and physical activity.
And community-based organisations such as walking groups will be able to apply for a share in one-off grants of $11.7 million over four years to create or extend their fitness activities.
Mr Abbott said the number of obese and overweight Australian adults had doubled over the past two decades, costing the nation an estimated $1.2 billion a year.
The government has also announced its $103 million Council of Australian Governments commitment to fight type two diabetes made last month will be spent on encouraging people aged between 40 and 49 to see their GP for a test.
Patients can be referred to a subsidised lifestyle modification program, which will generally include group counselling and telephone follow-up consultations.
The states are have also made a $101 million commitment to fight type two diabetes.
Meanwhile, about 42,000 more Australians will be given access to two Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme-listed anti-cholesterol drugs from August to help them avoid heart disease, at a cost of $77.6 million over four years.
About $9.8 million will be spent encouraging Australians to practice safe-sex and prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmissible infections.
Another national campaign, targeting skin cancer prevention, will continue for at least two more years after securing $11.5 million.
Budget measures also include $246.2 million in new funding to increase medical protection against preventable illness.
These include the previously announced cervical cancer and rotavirus vaccine programs, money to ensure the supply of Q fever vaccine and antivenoms, and mosquito control operations in northern Australia.
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