The Federal Government's proposal to make asthma the sixth National Health Priority Area will enable the Implementation Plan to serve as a reference for a three-year asthma program. Asthma stakeholders work collaboratively, have already achieved measurable, positive health outcomes and have demonstrated the ability to develop cost-effective interventions and initiatives.

The organisations in asthma and the relevant professional bodies have already risen to the occasion and many positive developments are occurring. A recent significant development in asthma has been the establishment of a Cooperative Research Centre for Asthma (CRC) with funding from the Department of Industry. The CRC will conduct research into the causes and prevention of asthma, examine cost-effective interventions for people with asthma and the development and commercialisation of technologies for asthma management. Further improvements and positive health outcomes can be achieved through the implementation of those strategies within the National Asthma Strategy which have been identified by stakeholders as being of greatest importance.

An important emphasis of the Implementation Plan will be to put in place sustainable interventions which would produce ongoing, improved health outcomes. Extra financial resources will be needed for this implementation.  Establishing asthma as the sixth National Health Priority Area would give recognition to the magnitude of the asthma problem, enable consideration of implementation of some of the National Asthma Strategy, and give deserved incentive and support to the organisations in asthma, which have already demonstrated great willingness to continue working collaboratively to improve the quality of life of people with asthma.

Content Updated 1999