A new system of health and wellbeing

Apr 14 2004

Hands up who goes to the doctor when they are feeling well? Hands up who goes to the doctor just to chat about how they can stay well? The fact is most of us drag ourselves off to the doctor only when there are signs of trouble, when we are feeling sick.

So why do we refer to the whole network of doctors and hospitals as a health system when in reality it is a system designed for people who are decidedly unhealthy - some would argue, a monopoly that supports disease?

In a public lecture presented by UniSA’s Hawke Research Institute and Jurlique International, Dr Mark Donohoe will be asking tough questions about our current healthcare system and offering innovative ideas about building a system that promotes good health by embracing complementary medicines and a tradition of health preservation.

The lecture – An integrative approach to health and wellbeing: complementary medicines and their benefits - will be held at UniSA’s City East campus from 6 pm this evening (April 14) on the ground floor of the Centenary Building, room 16.

Dr Donohoe will argue that by looking at health and disease as a continuum and by investing more money into disease prevention and health promotion strategies there would be long term economic savings in the community and a healthier population. He will explore significant examples including the use of priobiotics in pregnancy to battle the onset of asthma in children and the use of multivitamins to prevent cardio vascular disease.

Dr Donohoe graduated in medicine from Sydney University in 1980 and has specialised in environmental and nutritional medicine for 17 years. He is a member of the National Scientific Advisory Committee on Complementary Medicine and a Fellow of the Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine.