Editorial – Health promotion: essential to a national preventative health strategy

In April 2008 the Australian Government announced the establishment of a National Preventative Health Taskforce (NPHT) with the primary function of developing a national preventative health strategy. In October 2008 a discussion paper and three technical reports1 were released with a call for input from individuals and organisations, professional and consumer groups. This editorial outlines four key issues from the Australian Health Promotion Association's (AHPA) submission: the importance of a broad social determinants of health approach; clear explanations of ‘prevention’ and ‘health promotion’; establishing health promotion high on the political agenda; and building the capacity of Australia's highly skilled health promotion workforce to strengthen health promotion action across Australia.