The Academy has announced its election platform and health requests for hopeful political candidates.
The Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences has called on all political parties and candidates to prioritise Australia’s health and medical research investment to strengthen future resilience.
Increasing health system pressures and economic uncertainty mean that investment into research would bolster the “nation’s long-term resilience”, the academy said in its election wishlist, released today.
“Our health and medical research sector is one of Australia’s most valuable national assets,” said Academy president, Professor Louise Baur.
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“It not only delivers life-changing healthcare solutions but also economic returns, job creation, and the knowledge base we need to respond to the biggest challenges of our time.”
The election platform is focused on three key goals for Australian healthcare.
These goals reiterate earlier calls in the year for greater investment into medical research.
Equity and access to health and medical research as a means to address gaps in research for women’s health was also a mentioned priority.
Engagement with said priorities has been called for by the Academy to implemented as a critical pillar of national policy.
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Future-fit health systems are another key point of the platform, with the Academy praising Australia’s current health system in an international context.
Development of these systems is an “opportunity to act and invest in a system that is smarter, stronger, and designed to serve Australians well into the decades ahead”, said the AAHMS.
To support this initiative, the election platform also calls for parties and candidates to commit to increasing the National Health and Medical Research Council’s funding to offset the decrease in funding it has seen in the past five years.
A commitment to the National Health Literacy Strategy has also been touted as an effective measure to enhance public trust in healthcare and strengthen preventive health engagement.