One million fewer people smoking in Australia by 2020. If we implement the recommendations on price and public education alone we will prevent the premature deaths of almost 300,000 Australians now living, simply from four of the most common diseases caused by smoking(130)
A reduction in the proportion of Australians drinking at short-term risky/high-risk levels from 20% to 14% and the proportion of Australians who drink at long-term risky/high-risk levels from 10% to 7%. This will prevent the premature deaths of over 7200 Australians and prevent some 94,000 fewer person-years of life being lost. The impact on morbidity would approximate to 330,000 fewer hospitalisations and 1.5 million fewer bed days at a cost saving of nearly $2 billion to the national health sector by 2020.[18]
The prevention of half a million premature deaths if we stabilise obesity at current levels between now and 2050[19]
A new national capacity to plan, implement and evaluate preventative health policies and actions.

Australia’s knowledge base about effective action for tobacco control has been consistently built over the past 50 years. We know that if we implement the actions recommended for tobacco strategy we will see approximately one million fewer Australians smoking. Simply implementing two key components of the Strategy – tax increases and public education – will prevent the premature deaths of almost 300,000 Australians now living from four of the most common diseases caused by smoking. We will also see significant decreases in Indigenous smoking, which is currently the cause of 20% of deaths in Indigenous people.[19]
If we reach the targets for alcohol, the proportion of Australians who drink at short-term risky/high-risk levels will drop from 20% to 14%, and the proportion of Australians who drink at long-term risky/high-risk levels will drop from 10% to 7%. This will result in the prevention of over 7200 premature deaths and some 94,000 fewer person-years of life lost. The impact on morbidity would approximate 330,000 fewer hospitalisations and 1.5 million fewer bed days, at a cost saving of nearly $2 billion to the national health sector by 2020.[18]
If current upward trends in overweight/obesity continue, recent projections indicate there will be approximately 1.75 million deaths at ages 20+ years and more than 10 million years of life lost at ages 20–74 years caused by overweight or obesity in Australia from 2011 to 2050.[19] Each Australian aged 20–74 years who dies from obesity in 2011 to 2050 will lose, on average, 12 years of life before the age of 75 years.[19]
Building capacity for preventative health policy and actions is a vital component of the Strategy. The COAG National Prevention Partnership has already committed to the establishment of a National Prevention Agency (NPA). In addition to coordinating and developing action, the agency will facilitate a national prevention research infrastructure to answer the fundamental research questions about what works best, as well as providing resources and advice for national, state and local policies, generating new partnerships for workplace, community and school interventions, assisting in the development of the prevention workforce, and coordinating the implementation of a national approach to social marketing.

|TOC|next page