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Mini-Symposium

The 56th Cardiac Society of ANZ Annual ScientificMeeting: Focused Symposia on Public Health

John F. Beltrame and John D. HorowitzUniversity of Adelaide, Cardiology Unit, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, 28 Woodville Road, Woodville South,

SA 5011, Adelaide, Australia

In the February issue of the Journal, selected basic andclinical science symposia from the 56th Cardiac Society

of Australia & New Zealand (CSANZ) Annual ScientificMeeting held in Adelaide, were presented. This issuecontains material from two further symposia from themeeting: Indigenous Vascular Health and the Health CareCrisis.

The incidence of cardiovascular events amongst theAustralian Indigenous population remains approximatelythree times that of the non-Indigenous community. More-oopkrpwl2

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munity demonstrating that common problems exist acrossdiverse communities.

The theme of the 56th CSANZ Annual Scientific Meet-ing was ‘cardiology in an era of cost constraint’. This wasnew ground for the CSANZ Annual Scientific Meetingand reflects the changing landscape in modern medicinewhere it is insufficient to merely demonstrate that a newdiagnostic test or therapy improves health outcomes: reg-ulatory authorities now, quite appropriately, require dataon cost-effectiveness. This has become a central issue in

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ver, cardiovascular disease is the number one causef death in the Indigenous population. This racial dis-arity in health outcomes requires urgent attention andey cardiovascular organisations have directed significantesources towards addressing this problem. For exam-le, the Cardiac Society of Australia & New Zealandill convene their ‘Inaugural Indigenous Cardiovascu-

ar Health Conference’ in Sydney from 16–17 August009.

As a prelude to this important conference, health careorkers discussed approaches in addressing these majorealth issues, at the Adelaide CSANZ meeting. These dis-ussions were led by prominent experts in Indigenousardiovascular health who spoke at the ‘Indigenous Vascularealth’ symposium; the key concepts of their lectures are

health care, given that escalating health costs cannot besustained. Considering this theme, we were honoured tohave Professor John Deeble, the architect of the Medicaresystem in the early 1970’s, to deliver the opening addressat this meeting.

The ‘Health Care Crisis’ symposium was a key topic at themeeting and the speakers have kindly published impor-tant aspects of their lectures in this issue of the Journal.We were privileged to have Michael Armitage, to provideinsights into ‘What cost effectiveness means for healthfunds’. Andrew Tonkin then discussed the importance ofpreventative strategies in reducing the health burden andthus the impact on the heath care system. Derek Chewsummarised how advances in imaging and biochemicaltechniques have improved diagnostic strategies but how

ublished herewith.Christopher Zeitz addressed strategies that community-

this may not necessarily translate into improved healthoutcomes for our patients. Finally, Tony Keech and JohnHa

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ased health services should consider in bridging theustralian Indigenous cardiovascular survival gap. Alexrown reflected on his extensive experience in Indige-ous health and proposed health initiatives that could

mprove cardiovascular health in this high risk popula-ion. Luke Burchill provided a unique perspective on howo improve Indigenous vascular health from his experi-nce as an Indigenous cardiologist. Finally, Simon Stewartelated his experience from the Heart of Soweto study, tohe health problems within Australian Indigenous com-

-mail address: john.beltrame@adelaide.edu.au (J.F. Beltrame).

2009 Published by Elsevier Inc on behalf of Australasian Surgeons and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Z

orowitz outline cost effectiveness principles and theirpplicability to several cardiovascular scenarios.In closing, we once more wish to thank the many

olleagues who assisted in organising and those whottended the 56th CSANZ Annual Scientific Meeting indelaide, making it a highly successful conference. Were certain that the next meeting, which will be held athe Sydney Convention Centre, Darling Harbour from the3–16th August 2009, will also be very successful and weook forward to seeing you all there.

ty of Cardiac and Thoracicnd.

1443-9506/04/$36.00doi:10.1016/j.hlc.2009.03.001