Calls forinvestment as dental dilemma hits Victorians hard

NATIONALS MP for GippslandEast, Tim Bull, has called for more investment into public dental from the state governmentasthe sector suffers the worst delays in dental care this decade, with the averagewait time for public dental care in Victoria increasing to 26.7 months.

“It is disappointing, but not surprising, the wait times have blown out after the Andrews government cut funds to its public dental allocation in last year’s budget, which is there for all to see,” Mr Bull said.

“What would you thinkthe outcome of this action to be? That is why we made avery significant preelectioncommitment to increasefunds to the service to help address the problem.

“The Andrews government remained silent in this area,but it is aproblem they can ignore no longer."

Mr Bull said the average wait at Central Gippsland Health Service was 18.9 months

"There is no dentistatBairnsdaleRegional Health Service currently, which is adding to the burden and worseninghealth outcomes of patients needing treatment," he said.

“In some cases, we have heard from constituents who have been provided with vouchers to access to private dental services for urgent work, but there is no requirementfor these vouchers to be accepted and, in some cases, they have been refused, leaving the patient with adental dilemma."

“Australians are clearly concerned about these products andtheir effects on health. E-cigarettes can contain hundreds of toxic chemicalswhich shouldn’t be inhaled deep into our lungs,” Dr Demaio said.

“The vaping industry continues to exploit the next generationofyoung people through loopholesthat enablee-cigarettes to be illegallymarketed and sold withoutaprescription. With support across the country recognising this escalating public health challenge, we need urgent government action before it’s too late.”

The CBRC report, commissioned by Cancer Council and Quit, also shows that an increasing number of Australians understand the dangers of e-cigarettes. In 2022, morethan eightinten Australians (81 per cent) agreed that e-cigarettes are highlyaddictive; asignificant increase from 70 per cent in 2021.

“Interestingly,this new datashows thatthe overwhelming majority (83 per cent)of18to 24-year-olds agree that e-cigarettes are ‘highly addictive,” said Libby Jardine, chair of Cancer

Council’s tobacco issues committee.

Data from the 2019 NationalDrugStrategy Household Survey indicated that more than a quarter (26.1 per cent) of Australians aged 18 to 24 have ever used e-cigarettes -the highest usage rate across all age groups. Despite high usage, this age group is just as likely to support stronger policy action (86 per cent) as any other age group.

“Manufacturersand retailers are deliberately mislabelling e-cigarettes, claiming they don’t contain nicotine, to avoid getting caught importing or selling products illegally. Young peopletry them wrongly thinkingthey’renot goingtoget addicted,” Ms Scanlon said.

Many of the flavours (such as “strawberrymilk”, “fruitloops” and “colaice”) are deliberately appealing to youngpeople who are being unfairly targeted by an unscrupulous industry attempting to hook them on ahighly addictive substance.

For support to quit smoking or vaping, contact Quitline (13 7848).

Mr Bull said the government must greatly increase its public dental allocation in this year’s budget to reverse the cuts of last year and provide an improved service across the state. Wait times