Liberals abandon preventative health committee

The Minister for Health has confirmed that the Healthy Tasmania Committee, tasked with developing a preventative health strategy for Tasmania, has been disbanded.

Shadow Minister Rebecca White said the committee was set up in February with the task to provide strategic advice and assistance to the Minister for Health on the future direction for good health and chronic disease prevention in Tasmania

“The Minister confirmed that the Healthy Tasmanian Committee reported to the Government on time but since then there has been no announcement from the Government about its work,” Ms White said.

“Action in the area of preventative health is critical if we are going to improve the health and welfare outcomes for Tasmanians and reduce the prevalence of chronic disease.

“The Minister indicated the Department is now looking at the work of the Healthy Tasmania Committee but gave no indication of when information would be made publicly available.

“The Parliamentary Inquiry into Preventative Health Care has received submissions from a range of stakeholders who have a keen desire to see action in this area and these submissions are publicly available on the parliamentary website.

“The Government should use these submissions, the work of the Health Tasmania Committee and previous reports from the Ministerial Health and Wellbeing Advisor Council’s work from 2013 to take action on preventative health as a matter of priority.”
Rebecca White MP Shadow Health Minister