The Australian Health Care System Is Broken…Here’s How To Fix It
~98% of the $196B Australian health funding budget is being spent on TREATMENT with only 2% of the yearly national budget being spent on PREVENTATIVE health.
Think that’s a problem?
Hell yes, it is.
Health funding and the medical system is built on reactivity to illness via treatment. We wait for the tyre to go flat and then replace it instead of checking and maintaining the tyre’s health throughout its lifetime.
But some empathy needs to be deployed. Most government officials would likely argue that we need to put so much money into treatment because so many people are sick. Thus medicare and rebates are incredibly valuable. A logical argument.
But this is like a snake eating its own tail.
Unless you put more money into preventative health how are you supposed to minimise treatment costs as our society continually becomes sicker and more unhealthy?
It’s unreasonable to take away money from treatment because that’s people's health and life on the line.
The systemic change that needs to occur is the Australian Department of Health needs to put more money into preventative health (e.g. dietary and physical activity programs/promotion).
2% is a fucking joke.
Ideal world: 50/50 split?
Realistic world: 90/10 split.
Idiosyncratic change: what can you/I do?
Put pressure on ourselves, our loved ones and especially our primary health care professionals (doctors, nurses) to focus on prevention instead of treatment.
Open a dialogue about requesting them to focus on preventing disease and improving your quality of life instead of accepting your blood tests and health screening as they are just because you’re told your blood tests are ‘in range’ and you are young and healthy with no lifestyle risk factors.
If you care about preventing illness you have to show this to your health care provider about why it’s an important principle to focus on prevention instead of waiting for illness.
If prevention really is the best cure this needs to happen, otherwise, we will always be playing catch up to a progressively sicker society.
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