Housing is central to living a healthy life, Dr David E. Jacobs will argue at the University of Tasmania today.
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Dr Jacobs is the chief scientist with the National Center for Healthy Housing in the United States and the director of the World Health Organisation US Collaborating Center on Healthy Housing.
He is in Tasmania to share his expertise on how the World Health Organisation's "healthy housing" guidelines can be implemented into policy.
"Housing and health represent two of the largest parts of our economy," he said.
"But they remain largely separated, which causes needless suffering and avoidable costs."
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A healthy home includes keeping homes dry, ventilated, maintained, accessible, free of pests, free of contaminants and injury hazards, affordable and thermally controlled.
Dr Jacobs will argue for better partnerships between planners, health care and housing professionals, citizens, financial institutions and others.
University of Tasmania Research Fellow Phillipa Watson said Tasmania desperately needs new housing.
But the poor quality of existing homes is also a major problem, she said.
"We have serious socio-economic challenges in Tasmania that are undermined by poor-quality housing and a lack of appropriate housing," Dr Watson said.
"Research demonstrates that relatively minor improvements in existing homes in Tasmania can lead to health and wellbeing improvements for householders and, in turn, for Tasmanian society.
"There are large sums of money spent on health every year in Tasmania.
"If we just took a small proportion of that money and put it towards improving the quality of our existing housing stock as a proactive measure, there could be large potential health savings to the community."
Meanwhile, Housing Minister Roger Jaensch said details of how the $150 million wiped housing debt will be spent will be announced "in the coming weeks".
The Tasmanian state government's debt to the federal government was wiped in a deal made by senator Jacqui Lambie last month.
"Our priority is building more housing which will be allocated to those on the public housing waiting list," Mr Jaensch said.