Australian Government Preventative Health Taskforce

Recommendation on the discussion paper Australia: The Healthiest Country by 2020

The Institute prepared two submissions regarding this discussion paper. The first outlined the role of obesity and its relationship as a risk factor for major chronic diseases, emphasising the need for reliable, large-scale evidence about the efficacy and safety of the strategies for population-wide weight loss. The second highlighted the need for an effective national strategy for the control of population blood pressure, particularly that of salt reduction.

This recommendation called on the Taskforce to urgently add dietary salt reduction for the prevention of blood pressure-related diseases to its list of priorities, and to seek the financial support required to implement an effective centralised salt reduction program. Submitted January 2009.