Chief Medical Officer's Report

Intrduction

This year will be remembered for many achievements that will have a major impact on the delivery of health services to the
Australian people. We have seen exciting new breakthroughs, such as treatments for blinding eye disease and breast cancer, and new vaccines to prevent cervical infections and cancer. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reported that Australia had the best outcomes of all reporting countries in patients who had suffered a heart attack or
had cervical cancer. Australia also had the best immunisation rates for seasonal influenza.1

Health was a major focus of the Council of Australian Governments, which agreed to promising new initiatives that focused on workforce and training as well as major investments to tackle mental illness. Avian influenza continued to require a lot of attention, as the risk of a pandemic has not subsided. The preparedness of our health system to cope with a pandemic was tested in October 2006 with Exercise Cumpston 06. Important work was done in preparing to implement the International Health Regulations that came into effect in June 2007. There were also some significant wins in Indigenous health, with the roll-out of ’non-sniffable’ Opal fuel and the subsequent reduction of harm caused by petrol sniffing, as well as a very successful roll-out of cataract surgery occurring in central Australia, with many people having their vision restored.

On a less happy note are the problems of lifestyle diseases, especially obesity and the epidemic of diabetes. If we are to maintain the health gains achieved over the past decade, childhood and adult obesity and their consequent adverse health events will need to be managed. New approaches to these lifestyle diseases and increased investment in research are being implemented.

Professor John Horvath AO
Chief Medical Officer

1 OECD 2007 Health Care Quality Indicators Project. (Data for OECD countries 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006).