Voters want a ‘healthy’ election

Voters will welcome the increased focus on health care from the Government and Opposition in the lead up to the Federal election, according to the Australian Healthcare and Hospital Association.

“Both major parties have clearly got the message that health is an important issue for the community and one which often influences how people vote,” Prue Power, executive director, said.

“Australians are entitled to expect world class health care from our public health system. We are a wealthy country which can afford to invest in high quality health care in order to increase the quality of our lives and improve our well-being and productivity.

“It is important that in developing pre-election health policies, both the Government and the Opposition focus on developing long-term sustainable strategies to support our public health system and not simply short-term attempts to buy votes. Voters will be very cynical about attempts by either party to win votes by simply throwing money at isolated problems or out-bidding their opponents, without addressing the underlying issues.

“Both parties also need to look at the health system as a whole and address the problems of fragmentation and a lack of coordination between different sectors. These are major barriers to improving the delivery of health care and must be improved if we are to achieve an efficient health system which effectively prevents and manages chronic disease.”