Challenges in health and health care for Australia

Bruce K. Armstrong, James A. Gillespie, Stephen R. Leeder, George L. Rubin, Lesly M. Russell*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

130 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

• The next Australian Government will confront major challenges in the funding and delivery of health care. • These challenges derive from: Changes in demography and disease patterns as the population ages, and the burden of chronic illness grows; Increasing costs of medical advances and the need to ensure that there are comprehensive, efficient and transparent processes for assessing health technologies; Problems with health workforce supply and distribution; Persistent concerns about the quality and safety of health services; Uncertainty about how best to balance public and private sectors in the provision and funding of health services; Recognition that we must invest more in the health of our children; The role of urban planning in creating healthy and sustainable communities; and Understanding that achieving equity in health, especially for Indigenous Australians, requires more than just providing health care services. • The search for effective and lasting solutions will require a consultative approach to deciding the nation's priority health problems and to designing the health system that will best address them; issues of bureaucratic and fiscal responsibility can then follow.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)485-489
Number of pages5
JournalMedical Journal of Australia
Volume187
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Nov 2007
Externally publishedYes

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