Diabetes Mellitus in Australia: A National Health Priority Area Essay

This essay critically analyzes diabetes mellitus as a National Health Priority Area (NHPA) in Australia, exploring its significance and impact. It begins by defining NHPAs and emphasizing their role in addressing major chronic diseases. The essay then focuses on diabetes mellitus, detailing its prevalence, causes, and risk factors, including age, hypertension, and obesity. Statistical data highlights the increasing number of Australians affected by diabetes, emphasizing its classification as a NHPA. The essay further examines health promotion strategies, such as those implemented by Diabetes Australia and the Ottawa Charter, and the role of community participation. The discussion includes the PERMA model for wellbeing, the importance of health education, and the need for targeted interventions, particularly for vulnerable populations like Indigenous Australians. The essay concludes by underscoring the importance of long-lasting health promotion strategies, emphasizing citizen participation and lifestyle changes.

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NATIONAL HEALTH PRIORITY AREAS
Student’s name
Institutional affiliation

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Introduction
The National Health Priority Areas (NHPA) is an initiative that focusses on and
addresses a certain number of major chronic diseases and injuries that affect a significant part of
the population within a country. These conditions cause a certain level of disease burden within a
population and are normally prioritized to improve the general health of people (Grenyer,
Townsend & Rao, 2017). There are a number of National Health Priority Areas in Australia that
the government is putting effort to combat within the country and minimize incidence rates.
These areas include cardiovascular health, cancer control, injury prevention, arthritis and
musculoskeletal conditions, diabetes mellitus, asthma, mental health and obesity. These
conditions account for high health costs among Australian taxpayers and are therefore areas of
concern. The NHPAS are considered as areas of health issues that are preventable and have a
considerable potential to treat and manage (Lam et al, 2015). The main aim of the NHPAS is to
increase public awareness and understanding of these health issues and minimize further
development of the disease burden among populations. Diabetes mellitus is an important area of
focus that affects a lot of people in Australia. The purpose of this essay is to critically analyze
diabetes mellitus as a NHPA in Australia. It will discuss the prevalence rates, causes and risk
factors of the disease and health promotion strategies put into place to prevent diabetes mellitus.
Diabetes as a national health priority area
Diabetes is a medical conditions that results from increased blood glucose levels.
Normally, sugar levels in the blood are regulated by a hormone called insulin. When there is a
problem with the production or body response to this insulin, blood glucose levels become
unregulated leading to diabetes mellitus (Pucca et al, 2015). There are two types of diabetes
namely; diabetes mellitus 1 and diabetes mellitus 2. DM 1 mainly results from problems with

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insulin production from the beta cells of the pancreas. On the other hand, diabetes mellitus 2
results from peripheral tissue resistance to insulin leading to raised blood sugar levels. Diabetes
mellitus 2 is the most common among the 2 and mainly affects the older population within the
country. The risk for development of the disease increases with age and therefore people 60
years and above form a major target population (Gibbs et al, 2015). Diabetes mellitus was
identified as a national health priority area in 1996 due to an increase in the disease burden
among the people of Australia. It is considered as a NHPA due to the fact that millions of people
develop the disease within the country annually. The need to prevent development of the disease
is of importance in order to reduce mortality rates among the population.
Statistical data of diabetes in Australia
There are a number of statistical figures that are associated with diabetes in Australia.
About 275 people in Australia for example develop diabetes mellitus every day. This shows the
need to put a lot of emphasis on the awareness of the medical condition. It is one of Australia’s
fastest growing chronic disease and about 970.000 are currently diagnosed with the disease. For
every person that is diagnosed, it is estimated that there is another person that is not yet
diagnosed and therefore the prevalence shoots to as twice as much (Hall et al, 2018). The total
number of Australians with prediabetes and diabetes is estimated to be 3.2 million with the
number increasing every day. This can be compared with the global prevalence of the disease
whereby the disease currently affects at least 422 million people. It is the 6th leading cause of
death among Australians today. This information shows how important it is to address diabetes
mellitus in the country. Its incorporation as a NHPA is therefore of importance and a step
towards eradication of the disease burden.
Risk factors and contributing factors

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There are several risk factors associated with diabetes mellitus. The first risk factor is
age. The risk for diabetes mellitus type 2 increases with age. This might be due to increased
physical inactivity in old age and weight gain as well. Another risk factor that has led to a rise in
the number of cases is hypertension. High blood pressure is often associated with increased risk
of diabetes. This can be explained by the effects of hypertension on vessels leading to increased
blood sugar levels (Brownson, Colditz & Proctor, 2018)). Obesity is another risk factor
associated with diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases. These risk factors and
comorbidities are increasingly rising among populations.
Most of them are preventable and therefore knowledge on how to prevent them in order
to prevent acquisition of diabetes mellitus is of importance. Health promotion strategies should
focus on prevention of these risk factors in order to reduce the burden of disease among
Australians (Wykes et al, 2015). The prevalence of diabetes among the indigenous Australians is
thrice as much of that of non-indigenous Australians. There is increased need of attention
therefore among this part of the population in order to decrease the disease burden. The burden
of the disease can be highly linked with sedentary lifestyles among the people that increase the
risk of diabetes.
Models of wellbeing
The wellbeing of people in every country is a priority of the national government. The
WHO defines health as the state of physical, emotional and social wellbeing of a person. These
three components therefore are important areas of focus among the citizens of any country. In
order to eradicate diabetes among Australians, there is need to improve not only the physical
symptoms associated with the disease but also deal with the social and emotional aspects
associated with the disease (Cartier et al, 2018). People suffering from the condition often go

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through a tough time coming into terms with the development of the disease. Depression is a
common mental health issue associated with people that suffer from this condition. Providing
hope to the people suffering from diabetes is a step towards their wellbeing. Insights about the
progress of the disease and how to prevent deterioration of health are key education needs
towards ensuring the wellbeing of diabetic patients. The PERMA model of wellbeing can be
effective among people suffering from the condition. It entails boosting positive emotions,
engagement, building connections and relationships with others, meaning and accomplishments
(Yoshida, 2016).
Health promotion
Health promotive strategies are important when it comes to dealing with diabetes
mellitus. Since it is part of the NHPA in Australia, there is increased need to reduce its incidence
among the people and promote a healthy nation. This can only be done by promoting healthy
practices and creation of organizations that campaign for health promotion as well as prevention
of the disease. Diabetes Australia is for example an existing anti-diabetes campaign body
comprised of state and territory organizations. Its main aims are to increase awareness of
diabetes mellitus in the country and also focusses on treatment and prevention of the disease. Its
core purpose is to assist all the people affected by diabetes mellitus and those at risk and also
assist in research of cure of the disease (Doolan‐Noble et al, 2019). It has significantly helped in
raising awareness about causes of the disease and how to prevent acquisition of the disease by
modifying lifestyles. In addition to this, educating people already affected by the disease on how
to self-manage themselves by injecting insulin preparations has significantly helped lower
mortality rates associated with the disease.

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The Ottawa charter is a health promotion guide that was a product of an
international health promotion conference. It gave rise to certain determinants that were
considered essential for a good health condition, three basic strategies for health promotion
and five areas of priority action. Diabetes Australia has increased its efforts in trying to reduce
disease prevalence in Australia. It has been devoted to accomplish the five pillars of the Ottawa
charter in health promotion. These include building healthy public policy, creating
supportive environment, reorienting health services, developing personal skills and
strengthening community action. Gaps in the campaign include the fact that despite the
efforts to raise awareness, there is still a percentage of the population mainly the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have not been able to benefit from these
health promotive strategies. These people are located in remote parts of the country and
therefore might not have access to education programmes related to the disease (Zhu et al,
2018).
Other health promotive initiatives include the diabetes practice incentive program that is
aimed at improved prevention, early diagnosis and management of diabetic patients. Prevention
campaigns aim at encouraging healthy lifestyles that include eating healthy foods that are low on
fat and sodium. Diet is an important contributor when it comes to development of diabetes.
Monitoring diet is therefore an important strategy to prevent incidence of the disease. Other
preventive measures include increased physical activity and exercise.
Conclusion
In conclusion, diabetes is increasingly becoming a threat to human life not only in
Australia but globally. There is need to create long lasting strategies that are effective enough to
promote health. NHPAs are areas that not only need the attention of the National governments

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but also the incorporation of citizen participation. Health education is an important step to
ensuring prevention of chronic diseases with special focus on change of lifestyles and diet
(Morgan et al, 2016). In order to ensure effective campaigns in eradication of these health
conditions, community participation is of importance as it enables the spread of useful
information among people quickly.

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