Dr Norman Swan lauds G21 Regional Forum

NOTED health journalist and commentator Dr Norman Swan has praised the G21 Regional Forum as an excellent way to collectively work towards solutions to the region’s health and wellbeing issues.

Dr Swan is one of the keynote speakers at the 2024 forum, which will be held at the RACV Torquay Resort next month.

This year’s forum has the theme “Growing Well Together”, with health and wellbeing to be the focus.

The G21 region – the municipalities of Geelong, Surf Coast, Queenscliffe, Colac Otway and Golden Plains – has three postcodes listed in the state’s top 10 most disadvantaged areas (SEIFA Index 2023), and more than 35 per cent of people in our region live with at least one chronic disease – a higher rate than Melbourne.

G21 also has higher rates of smoking, obesity and psychological distress than the rest of Victoria.

Dr Swan will address these issues in his speech, as well as providing a comparative overview of health issues faced more broadly across Australia.

Speaking to this masthead this week, Dr Swan said he was excited to be able to give a speech at the forum.

“It’s an almost unique forum nationally in Australia, where you’ve got so many different agencies coming together for a common purpose, and there’s different areas within the region coming together.

“And it’s a rapidly changing – you’ve got people moving down from Melbourne to Geelong, Geelong’s becoming progressively a very different looking city from what it was 20 years ago.

“Yet there is a lot of poverty, a lot of disadvantage across the region, and that has a profound effect on health, wellbeing, and indeed longevity; how long people live.”

He said it would be a mistake to think the health care system could “sort this out” because the causes were much deeper than a virus or having too much cholesterol in your diet.

“I’m going to talk about why gaps occur in diseases, premature death… we like to think we know what causes these gaps, but the causes are more complex.

“In a sense, a lot of it’s got to do with work, a lot of it’s got to do with how much money you have, most of it has got to do with how disadvantage affects the brain – the developing brain in young children, but also the brains of adults and how that affects the rest of the body.

“So I’m going to be talking about how the G21 alliance is absolutely appropriate for dealing with these differences across the region.”

Dr Swan said it would be wrong to consider the health and wellbeing issues as a natural consequence of the healthcare system not keeping up with the considerable growth of the G21 region.

“It’s got nothing to do with that. People are looking in the wrong place for the problem, and the wrong place for the solutions, except that G21 is the right place to look for it, because the people who can make a difference are in the room.

“I suspect the really important stuff [at the forum] will happen over morning tea, afternoon tea and lunch, when people are sharing ideas, bumping into each other, and ideas will emerge.”

The G21 Regional Forum will be held on October 3 from 9am to 4pm.

For full details and bookings, head to eventbrite.com.au or g21.com.au

Seats are limited – book early to avoid disappointment.