Health promotion priorities submission

The Victorian Department of Human Services recently published a discussion paper on Health Promotion Priorities for Victoria, and invited submissions from interested persons.

The ADAVB submission in response to this initiative is now available.

Our submission calls for a higher profile to be given to oral health promotion - either by adjustment of the Department's currently proposed priority areas, or the addition of one or more extra areas which can accommodate the need for more oral health promotion.

Dental caries and periodontal (gum) disease are amongst the most prevalent and expensive health conditions, and yet most such disease is preventable. Oral health risk factors are similar to those for chronic and systemic diseases like diabetes and heart disease. This makes it an ideal area for health promotion interventions.

Once the Department has finalised its health promotion priorities for the period 2007-2012, we will publish update information here.