Rates of lung cancer increased in the 1900s due the an increased rates of smoking. Since then, the social model of health and the biomedical approach to health have worked together to try and decrease rates of lung cancer in Australia. Below is a list of what both approaches did to contribute to improved health status in relation to lung cancer. 

Although death rates from lung cancer have declined, cancer is still a major cause of death and disability in Australia, despite a long history of health promotion initiatives. It is therefore important that those who develop lung cancer are given access to medical care to ensure early diagnosis of the disease, and then provided with medical treatment if necessary. The biomedical approach to health is therefore also important if we are to improve individuals’ health and wellbeing and health status.