THE AMA has told a parliamentary inquiry the $3.1 billion cost to Australia's health system from diabetes could be mitigated through the introduction of a sugar tax, a much stronger focus on prevention and addressing inequities in the health system.
More than 1.3 million Australians live with diabetes (one in 20) and two in three adults, and one in four children are overweight or obese, which can lead to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer and other chronic diseases.
The AMA's submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport's Inquiry into Diabetes in Australia showed that the health data pointed to preventable disease resulting from people being overweight and/or obese accounted for 18% of health spending totalling $4.3 billion.
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