Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), consisting mainly of cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes, are the leading cause of death both in Australia and around the world. More than 36 million people die annually (63% of global deaths) of NCDs, many of which are largely preventable. NCDs share four main risk factors; tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and harmful alcohol use. The City of Greater Geelong (CoGG) and the G21 region (G21 is a collective of five Council’s in the South-west of Victoria) experience an increased prevalence of most of these risk factors and associated NCDs, including smoking, obesity, cardiovascular disease (CVD), hypertension and harmful alcohol use, compared to the Victorian average.
The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Global Action Plan for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases with its nine voluntary targets have been devised. The Plan proposes suggested actions for member states. Within the Australian context certain actions can only be achieved by specific levels of government, while other actions can be undertaken by the private and civil society sectors.
We have undertaken an assessment of the actions within the Plan and plotted them against the relevant level of government and other actors. The tables clearly demonstrate where local governments, community health and other organisations can act at a sub-State level to contribute towards the plan.
The plan states the possible impact (often through change in risk factor prevalence) should all actions be undertaken. The City of Greater Geelong is working to address the four main risk factors. We present here the calculated risk reductions to achieve the goals of the plan together with time series prevalence data from the Victorian Population Health Survey data. All findings will be presented at both the local CoGG level and broader G21 level.