Enhancing the cost-effectiveness of nutrition and obesity prevention strategies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
Pam Nguyen
“I am thrilled to share the details of my current fellowship, which is dedicated to enhancing the cost-effectiveness of nutrition and obesity prevention strategies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. My first step is to review global research on economic evaluations of nutrition and obesity interventions for Indigenous populations. Using these insights, I am developing the IndigenACE model—a specialised tool adapted from the well-established ACE Obesity Policy model. This new model will provide a more accurate measure of how preventive health interventions impact Indigenous Australians. I am now eight months into the fellowship, and these two studies are progressing nicely.
Next, I will use the IndigenACE model to assess a hypothetical nutrition intervention identified in my literature review. This evaluation will focus on its impact on non-remote Indigenous communities in Australia, helping to gauge its effectiveness and value for money. Next year, I will also extrapolate findings from the Medical Research Future Funds ‘Benchmarking for Healthy Stores’ trial, which tested a healthy food retail intervention in remote Indigenous communities. This analysis will guide decisions for retailers and local governments, ensuring that healthy store initiatives offer significant value.
Additionally, our team will organise a workshop to share these findings with Indigenous health organisations. This will help ensure that the research translates into actionable insights and supports informed decision-making. I’m excited to embark on this journey and hope these research efforts will have a meaningful impact on Indigenous health!
Understanding the diabetes epidemic in Australia: Exploring the Present and Future Impact on Health and Economy
Bernard Asare
“I was awarded an Alfred Deakin Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for my project titled: “Understanding the Diabetes Epidemic in Australia: Exploring the Present and Future Impact on Health and Economy.” With 537 million people affected by diabetes worldwide as of 2021, and projections reaching 783 million by 2045, the global impact is significant—6.7 million deaths and $966 billion in costs globally in 2021. In Australia alone, there are 1.3 million cases, making diabetes the 8th leading cause of death.
The changing landscape of diabetes epidemiology demands regular evaluations to guide policy decisions. However, current Australian studies are limited and outdated, highlighting the need for fresh, comprehensive analyses. Over the next two years, my fellowship aims to quantify the epidemiology of diabetes and provide up-to-date cost information, moving beyond decade-old data. This will support national health policies, enhance prevention and management efforts, and improve diabetes planning and treatment.
Using a novel linked dataset that integrates general practice and pathology data with hospital, emergency, and mortality information, my project will: (i) estimate the current prevalence, incidence, mortality, glycaemic control, and diabetes-related comorbidities and medication outcomes; (ii) examine the clinical pathway for diabetes and healthcare utilization in Australia; and (iii) estimate the direct healthcare costs of diabetes, including annual incremental costs and lifetime costs.
The insights gained will be crucial for understanding the current and future burden of diabetes, identifying key intervention points, and enhancing prevention strategies. Ultimately, this project will improve the quality of epidemiological and economic assessments, leading to more efficient resource allocation.”
Transforming resource allocation decision-making for obesity prevention
Jaithri Ananthapavan
“I feel extremely fortunate to be awarded an NHMRC Investigator Grant for my project titled: Transforming resource allocation decision-making for obesity prevention. We know that obesity is a driver of poor health in Australia, which leads to health inequities and can be costly to tackle. Government decision-making on which policies and programs to fund to address this complex issue needs to consider the costs, benefits and equity impacts of potential strategies. The Australian National Obesity Strategy 2022-2032 and National Preventive Health Strategy 2021-2030 provide powerful opportunities for Australia to address the health and economic burden of obesity.
My previous research has shown that the lack of methods to incorporate the complex inter-sectoral impacts of obesity prevention strategies into economic analyses contributes to government inaction. Furthermore, current decision-making frameworks are not fit-for-purpose to help decision-makers balance the various considerations when implementing prevention strategies that often require action outside the healthcare sector. My vision for the next 5 years is to establish a world-leading research program to support decision-makers to efficiently and equitably allocate resources for preventive health. I aim to transform obesity prevention resource allocation decision-making by Australian governments by undertaking three inter-related streams of work that will: (i) co-design with policymakers a preventive health priority-setting framework which addresses how equity and efficiency can be considered and balanced with other factors that influence decision-making; (ii) advance the economic evaluation of obesity prevention interventions by developing methods of incorporating environmental impacts, productivity and industry costs into analyses; and (iii) generate the economic evidence that can be directly used to inform the delivery of the national strategies. Capitalising on stated national priorities, I hope this project will deliver the critical research required to support evidence-based decision-making for efficient allocation of scarce resources to improve health and wellbeing for all Australians and reduce health inequities. The outputs will also be internationally significant and can be adapted to other contexts.”
