COVID-19 runs wild, neither party has a policy about it – The Australian Financial Review

With more than 47,000 people testing positive in the past 24 hours, adjunct Professor Slevin says he “can’t think of anything comparable to the dissonance between what is happening on the ground and the political debate”.

Why is this not part of the debate?

Public health advocates can get no traction or interest, for policies they have based on lessons learnt from the pandemic.

“We’ve tried the media, politicians, and campaign staff and just can’t get anyone to talk about why this is not part of the election debate,” he says.

When asked, Health Minister Greg Hunt said he talks about the pandemic in all his speeches and community events and that people are excited to be living in a post-pandemic Australia with a focus on expanding the economy.

“The foundation stone of where we are as a country is that we are one of only two OECD countries in the world to have a whole-of-population vaccination rate of above 80 per cent, loss of life of below 300 per million and unemployment of 4 per cent or less,” the minister says.

When the opposition was asked for its view, health spokesman Mark Butler’s staff suggested checking his tweets.

The PHAA is campaigning for a reorienting of budget health spending, so that 5 per cent goes to prevention.

Pandemic highlights many gaps

”We believe an ounce of prevention is worth far more than a pound of cure. At the moment with less than 2 per cent of our health dollars going into prevention,” says Slevin.

While the Coalition has set a target to do this, he says a target is not a commitment.

The PHAA also wants more investment in the national public health workforce.

“While problems in aged care, nursing, and other workforce areas are being recognised, many gaps have been highlighted by the pandemic. Public health expertise needs to be boosted too,” he says.

“The next generation of public health leaders need a training pathway and the capacity to respond to future challenges. A fully rolled out program across all states territories and the federal government would produce over 160 graduates a year and cost less than $50 million a year.”

Time for a CDC

On the PHAA’s website, its president, adjunct Professor Tarun Weeramanthri, says establishing a centre for diseases control and prevention should be a high priority.

While Australia has done “pretty well” in the pandemic overall, there were critical failures at different times in different states.

Although the Constitution gives states and territories the final word on most public health measures, he says there’s a clear need for national co-ordination, sharing of information and trusted expert advice. This could operate as a hub and spoke model.

“For more than 30 years, we’ve debated the need for a CDC. Its time has come.”

The PHAA’s other areas for action include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, climate and health, and the need to protect Australia against unhealthy products.