Australia needs new focus in public health

Obesity, heart disease and other preventable diseases more common in the “relative poor” should be the new focus of public health in Australia, according to one of the world’s leading public health figures, Professor Alan Lopez.

Professor Lopez recently returned to Australia after 20 years with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to take up a new role as the head of The University of Queensland’s School of Population Health.

Professor Lopez said the world health community had underestimated the importance of conditions such as obesity. He said while death from some major diseases had been reduced very successfully in Australia, there had been less success with other health hazards, created by inactivity and poor diet.

“Australia has had tremendous success in decreasing major diseases in the past three decades. Despite health inequalities, particularly in indigenous health, Australia is ranked at number two in the world, after Japan. This was a leapfrogging effort from a ranking of 15th less than a decade ago,” he said.

“Correct, persistent and courageous policy implementation, particularly in the areas of tobacco and alcohol control and HIV, has lead to tremendous improvements in Australian health. Primary prevention has been the focus, but the new challenge for Australia is to look at cost effective ways to reduce risk in people who have previously been considered at modest risk.”

Professor Lopez said people most affected were the “relative poor” – those with low education and income levels – “who don’t respond to health messages as well as others in the population”.

“In the case of obesity, we need to accelerate policy and program action, including a more effective campaign to reduce physical inactivity,” he said.

According to Professor Lopez, another challenge for Australian public health policy was the need to increase availability of cost-effective pharmaceutical treatments, supported by evidence-based research, for conditions such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

Professor Lopez said he planned to support Australia’s response to these challenges through development of UQ’s School of Population Health as a centre of excellence in public health research.

Media: A photo of Professor Lopez is available at www.uq.edu.au/news/press See attached biography for additional details about Professor Lopez. For further information, contact Faculty of Health Sciences Communications Officer Marlene McKendry (telephone 07 3346 4713 or mobile 0401 996 847).

ALAN LOPEZ – Brief Biography

Professor Alan Lopez was most recently the WHO Senior Scientific Adviser and Editor-in-Chief of the WHO World Health Report 2002.

He was the senior epidemiologist with the WHO, where he has been at the forefront of combating the world’s major health issues for the past 20 years.

Professor Lopez received international recognition for his work in the area of tobacco health issues and the development of a now universally accepted accounting method for assessing health status.

Professor Lopez moved recently from the WHO’s Geneva, Switzerland headquarters to head The University of Queensland’s School of Population Health, based in Brisbane, Queensland.