National Summit Called to Address Lower Life Expectancy of People with a Mental Illness
A National Summit of Mental Health Ministers has been called to address the high rates of premature death and adverse health outcomes amongst people with mental illness.
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Previous MinistersJoint Media Release
The Hon Mark Butler MP
Minister for Mental Health and Ageing
The Hon Kevin Humphries MP
NSW Minister for Mental Health
4 April 2013A National Summit of Mental Health Ministers has been called to address the high rates of premature death and adverse health outcomes amongst people with mental illness.
Federal Minister for Mental Health, Mark Butler, and NSW Minister for Mental Health, Kevin Humphries, announced the Summit to be co-hosted in Sydney in May.
Mr Butler said it was important that states, territories and the Commonwealth work together to address the hidden toll of preventable premature death among people living with a mental illness.
“In our efforts to focus on rehabilitation and recovery from mental illness we have tended to concentrate on the mental health needs of people, but physical health is just as important and we need to make sure those issues aren’t ignored,” Mr Butler said.
“The Summit will discuss strategies to reduce the rate of avoidable death from issues like cardiovascular, respiratory and infectious diseases.”
Mr Humphries said it was vital the State and Federal governments work together to reverse the poor health outcomes experienced by people with a mental illness.
“Knowing that people with a serious mental illness die on average 25 years earlier that the general population and that 70 per cent of people with a serious mental illness die from cardiovascular disease compared to 18 per cent of the general population, I felt compelled to bring together my colleagues across Australia to start turning this around,” Mr Humphries said.
“These are statistics which should concern us all. For most, early death is not caused by their mental illness but is the result of physical health problems such as poor diet, reduced physical exercise and increased likelihood of smoking.
“It is my hope that through this summit we can work together to deliver real improvements in the life expectancy and the quality of life of people with a mental illness.”
Media contacts:
Minister Butler’s Office 02 6277 7280
Minister Humphries’ Office, 0467 741 200
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