THE NATIONAL HEALTH
PRIORITY AREAS
Unit 3: Australia’s health / Area of Study 1
Understanding Australia’s Health
National Health Priority Areas (NHPA)
The National Health
Priority Areas
initiative was
Australia's response
to the World Health
Organisation's global
strategy Health for
All by the year 2000
and its subsequent
revision.
The initial 1996 set
of NHPAs included
cardiovascular health,
cancer control, injury
prevention and
control and mental
health. Diabetes
mellitus was added in
1997, followed by
asthma in 1999,
arthritis and
musculoskeletal
conditions in 2002
and obesity in 2008.
Arthritis &
Musculoskeletal
problems
Diabetes
Mellitus
Asthma
Mental
Health
Cancer
Control
Injury
Prevention
& Control
Cardiovascular
Health
Obesity
The Cost to Individuals and Communities
There are three different recognised costs!
Direct Costs
Indirect Costs
Intangible Costs
Direct Costs


Include costs that can be accurately quantified and
result the prevention, treatment or diagnosis of the
disease or illness.
Often expressed in monetary terms
Indirect Costs

Refer to the costs incurred by an individual, their
family or community because of the consequences
that the illness may have on an individual’s work
and social activities.
Intangible Costs



Not associated with a dollar value
Include pain and suffering
Emotional cost
Direct costs to the community
The cost of health care services
The cost of pharmaceuticals
The cost of prevention strategies
Indirect cost to the community
Unpaid care
Reduced or lost productivity
Absenteeism
Intangible costs to the community
Loss of an individual from a community due to
premature death – emotional pain and suffering
experienced by others
Direct costs for individuals
The cost of medical care
Ambulance
Pharmaceutical expenses
Indirect costs for individuals
Travel costs related to receiving treatment & care
Loss or partial loss of current and future earnings
Additional services now needed
Intangible costs for individuals
Pain and suffering
Anxiety and stress due to reduced productivity
Loss of time
Loss of quality of life
Case study.
Read through the information on the next 3
slides.
•As you go, try to identify;
•
•
The risk factors that lead to his condition
•
Any costs
- for Francois (direct, indirect, intangible)
- for the community (direct, indirect, intangible)
•
What Francois could have done to prevent getting this condition.
You can use your book (pp91-94) to help and
find the answers with the people around you.
•
The condition - Anaemia.
•
•
This is a condition where the body has insufficient
levels of haemoglobin in the red blood cells, or
insufficient levels of red blood cells entirely.
As haemoglobin carries oxygen, which is essential
for cell respiration, anaemia means your body can’t
carry enough oxygen to working cells and the cells
won’t work properly.
Francois’s Story
•
•
•
•
Francois is a 36 year old male who lives in Melbourne and
operates a struggling boutique art gallery.
He is a vegetarian and doesn’t like the taste of wholegrains,
so he eats white bread, rice and pasta.
Francois started to notice his skin was getting pale, he would
get headaches frequently and he would lose his breath
walking up the stairs from his basement in the gallery.
Because Francois has avoided red meat and whole grains
for the past 19 years, he has developed iron-deficiency
anaemea, as these are the foods that are high in iron.
Because he does not have enough iron, his body is unable to
produce haemoglobin.
Treatment


Francois’s doctor advised Francois to eat multigrain
bread, brown rice, and plenty of green leafy
vegetables.
He also needs to take a daily multivitamin, iron
supplement pills and blood pressure stabilising
medication until his haemoglobin levels improve.
Home life


Francois lives with wife and three kids.he has a best
friend whose name is Neville.
When his business was struggling, Neville lent him a
sizeable portion of money to help out. He also fills
in for Francois sometimes at the shop, when Francois
has to be away.
The Answers!


Are they the same as what you got?
Do you have any others that are not on here?
Impacts - Individual




DIRECT
Francois has had numerous visits to the doctor
before he was diagnosed, which cost a significant
amount of money.
He needs to continue to buy medication.
Francois could not work as effectively in his business
and lost money as there was no-one to cover for
him.
•
•
•
INDIRECT
Misses work. Owns a small business so needs to shut
the shop for the day or hire more staff.
Driving to doctor.



INTANGIBLE
Francois was always uncomfortable, unfit, out of
breath and in pain because of the lack of oxygen
getting to his brain, organs and muscles.
He felt terrible that he was finding it more and
more difficult to repay his friend Neville the money
he loaned him to start up the business, because he
was losing customers.
Impacts - Community


DIRECT
Medicare footed some of the bill for Francois’s
doctors visits and the Pharmaceutical benefit
scheme helped pay for his medication.
•
•
INDIRECT
Neville may lose money to fill in at the shop – can’t
work anywhere else.



INTANGIBLE
Neville is finding it harder to live without the money
he was expecting to receive from Francois, and
there relationship is struggling because of it.
Francois’s mother has taken leave from her job and
left the family home in Belgium to be with Francois
for a few weeks and help out. She is finding this
especially difficult as she does not speak English,
and her relationship with Francois has always been
testy at best.
Prevention





Francois could have avoided this condition by;
Eating red meat
Eating Wholegrains
Eating more green leafy vegies.
Going to see his doctor, Health teacher (who are all
awesome and know EVERYTHING), or a dietician to
develop a nutrition plan because he had made the
decision to be a vegetarian.
Case Study
Complete the
case study on:
The
consequences
of obesity for
the community
and the
individual.
pp 95 & 96