Critical Analysis of the National Women's Health Policy in Australia

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This essay provides a critical analysis of the National Women’s Health Policy in Australia, examining its historical context, objectives, and implementation strategies. It explores the policy's focus on improving women's health and well-being, addressing chronic diseases, mental health, sexual and reproductive health, and healthy aging. The essay evaluates the policy's successes, such as its prioritization of health care and its multi-dimensional approach. It also highlights areas for improvement, including the need for greater awareness among uneducated populations, the importance of evidence-based research, and the inclusion of vulnerable groups like illiterate women and those from tribal communities. The essay concludes with recommendations for enhancing the policy's effectiveness and ensuring comprehensive health care for all Australian women, emphasizing the need for awareness campaigns and evidence-based practices to achieve better outcomes. It also discusses the benefits of partnerships and government support in the policy's implementation.
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National Women’s Health Policy in Australia
Generally, the Australian Government considers public health as a primitive measure for a
healthy society. Particularly, Women’s health is highly necessary for healthy off springs. Hence,
Australian Government published National Women’s health Policy 2010. The National
Women’s Health policies prime focus to improvise the wellbeing and healthcare of women in
Australia. The Women’s health policy in Australia introduced in the year of 1989 (Department of
health, 2019). The National Women’s health policy -2010 strongly recognizes women’s health.
Women’s health policy in Australia ensures and assures for better health care service those who
in utmost heal risks.
Women’s health policy-2010 prioritizes and commits two major factors in policy elements as per
dual priority approach. Recognize the necessity to address the immediate and future focused
health challenges of women in society. It focuses on women’s sound health and wellbeing of
every woman in Australia. Ensures to maintain and implement necessary health services
pertaining, prevention programs in order to create awareness to avoid diseases and treat in
prompt method (Department of health and Ageing, 2010).The women’s health policy-2010 aims
to address healthcare based inequities and ensure to address the social ratification on equal
healthcare and eradicate the health determinants.
The department of health in Australia develops the strategy of National women’s health policy. J
Halies formulated the strategy for women’s health. The theory focuses on the health of
Australian women’s for the wellbeing of the whole country. The target group of national
women’s health policy is in the danger of poor health. The strategy formulated to identify the
vulnerable group and form an outline to meet health needs (Jamieson, 2012).Development of
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health advantages to focus on the enhancement of health and prevention of illness are the
essential strategy implemented by the National women’s health policy. Evidence based health
policy implementation is the key approach in strategy formulation and execution.
In the year of 1989, the Women’s Health unit of the Common wealth department of the
community services and health wanted to develop a policy that serves all the health needs of the
women’s. This women’s health unit found that Australian women’s are suffering from various
health issues and which was not resolved due to lack of supreme health policy
( Fredericks,2017). So, the women’s health unit developed the National Women’s health policy.
A document on the health problems among Australian women’s was identified by the Australian
Health Ministries advisory council (AHMAC). AHMAC executed the health policy to find the
solution for the various health issues among Australian women. It also focuses on disadvantaged
women due to economic deprivation, culture, religion, and location. National Women’s health
policy concentrates on all the women but focuses on the needy.
In the year 1985, nearly 700 women attended the Adelaide conference and brought the joint
resolution on women’s health policy on Nationwide. The first seed of women’s health policy
sown in the year 1989 as basic health care services as per older trend. Implementation of the
National women’s health policy happened in the year of 1989.The health challenges are
predominantly varied different extent in 20th century. Hence, consultations and research
submissions suggest executing the Women’s health policy based on dual priority method in order
to face current and future health challenges efficiently (Australian Institute of Health and
Welfare, 2018). As per new Women’s health policy-2010 standard ensures healthy lifestyle of
women for next twenty years.
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The women’s health policy provides high importance on four major areas of healthcare services
and situations. The women’s health policy – 2010 prioritize to prevent chronic diseases and
redistricts the risk factor of the disease conditions among women. The secondary major factor is
maintaining the sound mental health and wellbeing of women community (Department of
Health, 2017). Thirdly, the policy concentrates on Australian women’s sexual health parameters
and reproductive healthcare parameters. The fourth major factor of women’s health ends up with
a healthy ageing process
18 years and above aged women in Australia is having an excellent health condition. At the same
time health challenges and risk increases in the age of 25 to 34. Women’s key health factors
started trailing down. The mortality rate is also quite higher in numbers in spite of fair healthcare
literacy. So health challenges and risk factors can be classified based on the following priority
conditions.
The major chronic threats in Australian women are cardiovascular diseases, Diabetes, Cancer,
and, Respiratory disease. The mortality rate of cardiovascular diseases among Australian women
around 37 percentage. More or less 20 percentages of women affected by Cardio vascular
disease. Literacy rate of cardiovascular diseases among Australian women around 39 percent. As
per the National Health Survey among the Australian women record very important note that
diabetes among the Australian women increased drastically. Eighty percentile Australian women
affected with Type 2 diabetes. The mortality rate of Cancer among Australian women is 26
percentages. Hence, proper literacy drive is required for Cancer. Nearly, 45 percentages of
women in Australia affected with COPD and respiratory diseases ( Luxford, 2018).
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As per World Health Organization reflection metal disorders also major destruction among the
women. Therefore, the Australian Government provides major importance to mental health and
wellbeing among Australian women. According to the National survey, nearly 43 percentile
women in Australia affected with anxiety disorder and affective disorder that may cause suicidal
thoughts among women at the age group of 16-54. National Women’s health policy works for to
prevent sexual abuse and the physical abuse in the family. It also provides psychological support
to the victims.
On the Critical Assessment of the Success of the policy, National women’s health policy benefits
all the women’s of Australia from birth to death. It is the primary benefit of the policy. National
women’s health policy aim to treat the congenital problems happens during birth, which will
reduce the mortality rate. The policy tract each girl child’s health from birth to death. National
women’s Health policy covers the teenage and adolescent age group to treat common
psychological problems in this specific age group. The Health policy ensures to cover all the
health issues that are a physical, psychological and social illness (Department of health, 2019).
Priority execution of health policy is the one of the reason for the success of National women’s
health policy. It prioritizes health care according to the need of the women population. Primarily,
the health policy focus on the maternal ‘sexual and reproductive health of the Australian women
which is the primary need of the women. Health policy creates awareness about sexual and
reproductive illness and health care details. Provides support and information on preconception
and perinatal. Healthy aging is essential for a woman to undergo aging process without any
illness and complications (Department of health, 2019). Chronic condition and preventive
measures to treat the vulnerable group of women suffers various preventable diseases. Mental
disorder is common among women population since they are undergoing various psychological
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issues from birth to death.Health effects caused due to the violence against women and education
on mental issues. Health policy concentrates on the preventive measures and multi-dimensional
approach in treating the eating disorder among women population.
National Women’s Health policy works with the association of women in partnership. The
partnership of the benefiters promotes decision-making. Partners of the health policy are from
various sectors and industries, which promotes the policy in multi-dimensional approach. The
health policy is supported by various health and community services, which includeprimary care
services, tertiary care services, community health services, local state, and national wide women
services.Personal and advocacy support is provided by health promotion and education network,
women support group, priority population advocacy (Department of health, 2019).The
government, health sector, community sector, non-government organization, primary health
networks, research, and academic institutions provide government and industry sector support.
All the partners focus on a single point, which strengthens the policy benefits.
National women’s health policy forecasting five-year plan. Health policy is expecting the
development of the objectives of the strategy. It has made a plan to analyses the progress of the
implemented objectives (Department of health, 2019). Moving on to promote the health of the
Australian women’s by ensuring easily accessible health care, provision of equal health care
regardless of age, color, creed, and religion, Focus on the vulnerable group is the priority. Future
plans on the health care for Australian women population leads to a more successful path.
National women’s health policy focuses on the overall women population of Australia but it
denies reaching uneducated. Uneducated citizens of Australia will not be aware of the existence
of such a policy. It may cause hole in the strategy of the health policy. Illiterate women are the
one who actually needs health support from the government (Australian Institute of Health and
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Welfare 2018). National Women’s health policy ignores the barriers like literacy, culture,
psychological and social issues, educational and geographical issues. The health policy has no
plan of educating the illiterate or low health knowledge people (Hosking,2018).Ignoring the
illiterate may cause failure in the efforts of health policy.
Ignorance about the importance of health and unawareness on the illness are the contributing
factors for the unhealthy population (Bess, 2015). National Women’s health policy has no plan
of creating awareness about the preventable illness of the country. Community support can be
gained only means of creating awareness (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2018). It is
the chain process. Creating awareness gains community support that because the development of
knowledge on the specific aspect results in the cooperation and better outcome. Lack of
awareness leads to lack of community participation that may result in loss of labor and
government funds.
Any health system should acquire a research data to plan and implement health care. National
Women’s health policy is lacking a research team, research data and evidence based research for
the execution of health care(Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2018). Evidence based
health care approach in health care brings out better outcomes as person and community.
National Women’s health policy can be failure due to absence of evidence-based practice in
offering health care and proposing preventive measures. The vital goal of the health policy is to
provide health care to all the women’s of Australia but due to absence of evidence-based practice
the Australian women are not benefited and the fund invested for the health policy will be of no
use
National Women’s health policy is formulated for the benefit of Australian women.The strategy
formulated to identify the vulnerable group and form an outline to meet the health
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needsDevelopment of health advantages to focus on the enhancement of health and prevention of
illness is the essential strategy implemented by the National women’s health policy.The
women’s health policy provides high importance on four major areas of healthcare services and
situations secondary major factor is maintaining the sound mental health and wellbeing of
women community. Thirdly, the policy concentrates on Australian women’s sexual health
parameters and reproductive healthcare parameters. The fourth major factor of women’s health
ends up with healthy ageing process (Hailes, 2019). The theory focuses on the health of
Australian women’s for the wellbeing of the whole country.National women’s health policy
benefits all the women is of Australia from birth to death.
National Women’s health policy benefits all women from birth until death. It meets all the health
needs of the women population. However, some changes in the strategy would shape the policy
into comprehensive health policy. The recommendations for the successful outcome of the health
policy are changes in health policy strategy to meet all the women of Australia that includes
illiterate women, and women of tribal community (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
2018). Creating awareness is essential part of health care system. Building awareness serves as a
preventive measure for various dreadful communicable diseases. Awareness gains community
support that causes development of knowledge on the specific aspect results in the cooperation
and better outcome. Propose evidence based researches, research data to plan and implement
health care. Evidence based health care approach in health care brings out better outcomes as
person and community.
References
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