AUSTRALIA 2020 SUMMIT OUTCOMES

A long-term national health strategy - including the challenges of preventative health, workforce planning and the ageing population

• Australia 2020 Initial Report [1]

Delegates in this stream decided Australia's long term health goals in the coming years should be firmly focused on preventative health care through the creation of a national preventative health agency, and to make it easier for people to identify healthy food choices.

This group also suggested bridging the gap between Australia's research, commercial and health outcomes, and more effort focused on the translation of research into into commercial and clinical benefits.

On the e-Health record front, the team called for the creation of Healthbook - a social networking site which could store health care records, and the introduction of health literacy programs, such as First Aid courses, into the school curriculum.

At the meaty end of the scale, the delegates were looking for:

• ways to minimise red tape and reporting requirements
• focus on evidence-based allocation of resources
• the creation of a trans-ASEAN collaborative health care group to tackle infectious diseases
• the creation of a more self-sufficient and flexible medical workforce

Are they on the right track? Is preventative medicine really a panacea to our health woes? Would you list your medical records online? What about a more more self-sufficient and flexible medical workforce, what does that mean?

To read pre-Summit submissions by Open Forum participants, click here [1].