Year 9 Science · Unit 1 · Lesson 21
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Learning Goals
Read the graph
Study the bar chart below showing the percentage of Australian adults who smoked daily at different points in time. Key public health interventions are marked.
Data: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), National Drug Strategy Household Survey, various years.
(a) Describe the overall trend shown in the graph between 1945 and 2023.
(b) Estimate the percentage-point drop in smoking rates between 2000 and 2023. Which single public health intervention shown on the graph appears to have had the greatest impact? Justify your answer using data from the graph.
(c) Using your knowledge of public health from this lesson, explain why the smoking rate did not drop to 0% even after multiple interventions were introduced.
Fictional training case
This is a fictional public-health training scenario, not a report of a real outbreak. For the exercise, assume that in January 2024 health authorities in north Queensland detect a cluster of a new mosquito-borne virus, provisionally named "Cape York Virus", in the Cairns region. In this fictional case, the virus causes fever, joint pain, and, in rare cases, encephalitis (brain inflammation); no vaccine is available, and Aedes aegypti, which can transmit dengue in the region, is a suspected vector. The scenario asks you to plan a response that is accessible to remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Design a public health response
Use what you know about public health strategies to answer each part below.
(a) Describe a surveillance strategy health authorities should use to track the spread of Cape York Virus. Include what data would be collected and how.
(b) Identify two primary prevention measures that could reduce the risk of infection in the local community. For each, explain the mechanism by which it reduces disease spread.
(c) Describe one secondary prevention measure that could be implemented and explain why early detection matters for this type of disease.
(d) How would you communicate the risk of Cape York Virus to remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities? Give two specific strategies that account for barriers these communities may face.
Wrap Up
In one sentence, why is a multi-strategy public health response more effective than relying on a single intervention?