Defined Terms   Business Plan   Invitation Letter   Attachment    SWOT Analysis 

 2.        Snapshot of Seven Problems facing the Western World due to current Lifestyle Behaviour which have demographic and socio-economic influences

    I.         Global Warming "could reduce global annual economic growth by 20% or more" Sir Nicholas Stern     

             Last May, many eminent scientists, ecologists and climatologists at the ninth session of the InterGovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group III in Bangkok -

(i)        advocated that "man's energy consumption behaviour is materially accelerating the planet's rate of warming"; and

(ii)       considered that a "dramatic shift in lifestyles" rather than "dependence on green-friendly technology" is urgently required to mitigate climate change.

In October these scientists were awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

 

II.          Burgeoning Baby Boomer medical prescriptions and aged pensions will fall upon reducing tax payer pool
Esteemed USA and Australian economists predict Burgeoning Baby Boomer Fiscal Costs (medical prescriptions, aged care and aged pensions) to fall upon a smaller tax payer pool due to -

¨                   insufficient superannuation provisioning by lower income earners;

¨                   insufficient pension provisioning by Governments for the acute increase in demand due to baby boomers living appreciably longer due to medications (ie. antibiotics, cholesterol and blood pressure treatments);

¨                   lower birth rates in higher socio-economic countries negatively impacting the available pool of future tax payers; and

¨                   China's one child policy similarly diminishing China's fiscal resources.

III.        Obesity cost Australia $21 billion in 2005 and is increasing

"Obesity on the rise in Australia" article of Tues 7 Aug '07 mentions an ABS report "Australian Social Trends 2007" that identifies two million more Australian adults are classified as overweight or obese than in 1995.

In 2005, 7.4 million adults - 54% of the adult population - were classified as overweight or obese.  Whereas 10 years earlier, 9% less, 45% of the adult population were overweight or obese, posing a major risk to long-term health by increasing the risk of chronic illnesses.  Related health problems include diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers.

"It has been estimated that obesity and its associated illnesses cost Australian society and governments a total of $21 billion in 2005," the report says.

   IV.        Annual Social Cost of Drug Abuse in Australia approaching $50 billion


Counting the cost: estimates of the social costs of drug abuse in Australia in 1998-9 - Monograph Series No. 49 - by Collins & Lapsley estimate the aggregate annual social cost to Australia of drug abuse for '98-'99 was $34.44 billion:

             Relying on data about the recent impact of amphetamine-type stimulants (Meth or ICE) particularly on the young, casual empiricism suggests that if the authors, Collins & Lapsley, repeated their 3rd analysis for 2007/08, the annual social cost to Australia of drug abuse would approach $50 billion.  

V.         Generation Gap of teenage kids relating to their parents is wider than ever resulting in diminished Family Unit Cohesion

     

      The Generation Gap of older and younger family members understanding, relating and assisting each other is wider than ever before, resulting in diminished Family Unit Cohesion ie. reduced love, caring and co-operation within the fundamental social structure within societies for people related by blood or marriage.  

      The economic cost and lost productivity due to teenagers rebelling against societal norms has never been higher.  Recreational Drug Use and problem gambling are often associated with escapism due to dissatisfaction with the Generation Gap. 

 

VI.        Adults are overusing anti-depressants to treat a normal illness affecting one in four Australian women and one in six men

 

 

      

  • Each year almost 800,000 Australian adults will experience a depressive illness.

  • Depression is the leading cause of disability in Australia.

  • Depression counts for more days lost to the workplace than industrial action.

  • World Health Organisation has predicted that by 2020 Depression will be the second biggest health problem globally.

  • Depression is the third most common cause of illness among women and the tenth most common cause among men.

            A litany of medical journals from all corners of the Western World exists which chronicle the vast prescription of anti-depressants since the early '90s, and the serious emotional problems they have caused to a not insignificant percentage of the population. 

Use of antidepressants in the Australian population, 1975–2002

 New = selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, moclobemide, venlafaxine, nefazodone, mirtazapine, and reboxetine. Old = tricyclic antidepressants, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, mianserin, and nomifensine.

VII.       One in 5 Australians is Disabled - Federal Government assistance approaches $7b annually.  Cost to the public purse, foregone productivity and impinged QOL for many of the Disabled are all large issues.

Conclusion re the Seven Problems:

Global population, economic growth and the pace of life are all racing ahead at an ever increasing speed which collectively is -

(a)        heating up and polluting our atmosphere;

(b)        gouging the Earth's limited fossil fuels with insufficient regard for the energy needs of future generations;

(c)        exacerbating the planet's future economic potential;

(d)        damaging our physical and emotional health;

(e)        encouraging excessive Recreational Drug Use as many citizens seek escape from these stresses; and

(f)         paying little heed to setting up a framework for Abled Participant Assistants to assist on a structured basis some of the 20% of fellow Australians who are Disabled (who often through no fault of their own, got dealt a poor hand in life) to enjoy a Recreational Exercise Activity to be more self-sufficient, empower to higher productivity and enhance their QOL. 

 

Economic Materialism and associated higher GHGs is skewed towards higher socio-economic neighbourhoods.  Obesity, reliance on anti-depressants, diminished Family Unit Cohesion from a widening Generation Gap and problem gambling are more prevalent in lower socio-economic regions.

 

Current government policy assigns little regard for -

(i)         Gen X and Gen Y paying for Baby Boomers which are overly reliant on costly medications due to 'inter alia' poor diet and Economic Materialism which rarely includes Recreational Exercise Activity, particularly in lower socio-economic neighbourhoods; and

(ii)        conserving fossil fuels for the future inhabitants of the planet who would be able to burn GHGs with Reduced Carbon Emissions.

Epilogue

Various research establishes that Exercise can reduce risk of several diseases and conditions.  Research conducted by Monash Medical School in Melbourne on 443 colon cancer patients for more than 5 years (published in the May 2006 issue of the journal Gut) established anti-cancer effects of Exercise due to increases in a protein that slows down runaway cell growth and induces cell death, thereby reducing the incidence of colorectal cancer.  ABC Health & Wellbeing reports exercise reduces breast cancer.  Exercise can reduce a smoker's lung cancer risk, but quitting smoking is still most important.

The terms of reference for the Research Programme Team to prepare 2 Research Programme Progress Reports for the 9 month Research Programme described in Section 16, and the Four Hypothesis Test Reports to be submitted by the 50 Volunteers via cost-effective e-Research Techniques, to gather results for the Research Programme Team (to test the merit of Rigorous Recreational Exercise Activity to treat the Seven Problems), are too narrow to measure any benefits from Rigorous Recreational Exercise Activity to slow down or remove cancerous cells.