Delegates at the 2008 GP & PHC Research Conference and the Australian Association for Academic General Practice gave unanimous support to the following recommendation, in support of the call made by the Prime Minister's 2020 Summit for the establishment of a Health Equalities Commission.
The 2008 General Practice and Primary Health Care Research Conference is heartened to see that equity was an important interest driving the Prime Minister's 2020 Summit . The Conference notes particularly that the Health Stream of the Summit declared a long term ambition of a national health strategy that would “close the gap” and where Australia would become “‘the Healthy Country' for all”. As a way towards this vision the health stream listed its first recommendation as the establishment of a “Health Equalities Commission”.
The 2008 Conference was convened in the year of the 30th anniversary of the Alma Ata Declaration on Primary Health Care, with the theme of Health for All? The Alma Ata declaration saw a strong primary health care system as critical to addressing continuing inequalities in health within and between countries associated with social and economic disadvantage. Evidence accumulated since then has strengthened this claim. Like many countries, Australia continues to have significant differences in the health outcomes of the most and least disadvantaged groups in the community.
The Conference strongly supports and endorses the direction and recommendation of the health stream of the Summit in this focus on reducing health inequalities. A strong Primary Health Care research and evaluation program that explores the impact of health care interventions and initiatives on reducing health inequalities is an important element of building the capacity of our nation to realise the ambitions of the Summit recommendations.
The recommendation has been sent to the Minister for Health and the heads of the Hospital and Health Reform Commission and the National Preventive Health Taskforce.
For all enquiries please call John Furler on 0419 393 156, or email j.furler@unimelb.edu.au
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