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Resource 1: The health and economic benefits of reducing disease risk factors (full report) (5.43MB)
Resource 2: The health and economic benefits of reducing disease risk factors (summary) (316KB)

“How much is it worth?” is a frequently asked question in the context of preventative health and health promotion. However well-justified, this query can be challenging to answer because preventative health’s many benefits can’t always be assessed in mere dollar terms. Many regard the quality of life that accompanies good health as being valuable beyond measure.

This new report tackles this challenge head on. It estimates the ‘health status’, ‘economic’ and ‘financial’ benefits of reducing the prevalence of the six behavioural risk factors that contribute to chronic diseases affecting millions of Australians. These major risk factors concern obesity, alcohol, smoking, exercise, diet and domestic violence.