Healthy Futures for Young People

The health and wellbeing of young people is a top priority for Australian health care.

Incredibly, over 75% of deaths among Australian adolescents are from preventable causes. Each year 400 young people commit suicide, while other lives are claimed by drug use and risk-taking behaviour. An obesity epidemic is currently affecting 25% of young people, a figure rising every year. Meanwhile, 20% of adolescents are battling a chronic illness.

While exciting advances are being made by our staff in the Department of Adolescent Medicine at the Children's Hospital at Westmead, there is a need for a concerted effort to address the problems faced by our young people.

Underpinning this effort is a Chair in Adolescent Medicine, which will bring academic leadership to the area. The Chair will set up essential research and training infrastruture and encourage more specialists into the field. With your support, the discipline of adolescent medicine will take its place as a specialty in its own right - and save lives.

Associate Professor David Bennett and Dr Susan Towns, from the Dept of Adolescent Medicine at Children's Hospital Westmead and Jessica Patmore

The Medical Foundation….................…Research for a healthier future