Government Bill to combat obesity and promote healthy body weight

The equivalent of two-thirds of Queensland’s health budget is being spent on the state’s “shocking” obesity crisis, a diabetes expert has revealed.

THE equivalent of two-thirds of Queensland’s health budget is being spent on the state’s “shocking” obesity crisis, a diabetes expert has revealed.

Our battle of the bulge accounts for 25 per cent of preventable hospitalisations, and cost the Queensland economy nearly $12 billion in a single year [2015].

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The shocking revelations come after The Courier-Mail last week revealed the public health system was struggling to keep up with the demand for beds.

Diabetes specialist Dr Sultan Linjawi, who created an app-based diabetes education system called My Health Explained, will speak today at the Education, Employment and Small Business Committee Inquiry into the Health and Wellbeing Queensland Bill 2019.

Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles. Picture: AAP Image/Dan Peled

He commended Health Minister Steven Miles on the Bill and said he believed it would promote healthier lifestyles and could save the state billions, free-up beds and hospitals and reduce the rates of early death, amputations and other complication associated with diabetes.

“What we have been doing it not working,” Dr Linjawi said.

“The number of people with diabetes in the country and in this state is increasing, and it’s strongly linked to weight.

“We are not making it easy for Queenslanders to make the right decisions about their health.”

Diabetes is becoming increasingly concerning, with an extra 22,000 Queenslanders — equivalent to the population of Maryborough — being diagnosed each year.

The rate of admissions for amputations in four Queensland regions are also among the nation’s highest.

In the top 10 list of locations with the highest rates of hospital admissions for diabetes-related amputations, the Queensland outback was second, Cairns was sixth, Darling Downs/Maranoa was ninth and Townsville was 10th.

Shockingly, Dr Linjawi said the costs to the Queensland economy was the equivalent of more than $2000 for every Queensland man, woman and child.

Dr Linjawi has backed the Health and Wellbeing Queensland Bill 2019 and said it could potentially ease the pressure on the health system.

He said chronic disease would be an “increasingly heavier burden” on our state’s hospitals and healthcare systems unless Queensland made simple changes around society and commerce.

“If you can improve diabetes in the community, you could potentially reduce the burden on hospitals,” he said.

Dr Linjawi has proposed a Government-supported pilot of his My Health Explained app to help Queensland reach its body weight goal and reduce the burden of chronic disease in the state.

The app is an online 12-week video-based education and treatment program for people diagnosed with diabetes. It is designed to educate and support users to personally manage their diabetes no matter where they live.

The Government is aiming to increase the proportion of Queenslanders with a healthy body weight to increase by 10 per cent by 2026.