Aussies fat pill-poppers
November 25, 2013
Australians are an obese
race of pill-poppers according
to a report by the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD).
The report, Health at a Glance
2013 - OECD INDICATORS,
summarises trends and influences
shaping health status, services and
policies in countries around the
world.
While life expectancy in OECD
countries is rising, so is the burden
of chronic diseases such as diabetes
and dementia.
Australia has the seventh highest
life expectancy (82 years) out of 41
countries evaluated, while spending
less than half per capita on health
compared to the USA which has a
life expectancy of 78.7 years.
Although the report shows
that Australia has reduced
cardiovascular disease deaths by
51% over the last 20 years, there is
a risk of the next generation living
shorter lives than their parents
because of the increasing obesity
problem.
Australia moved from fifth to
fourth fattest country in the tables,
with 28.3% of the adult population
being obese - behind the US at
36.5%, Mexico with 32.4% and New
Zealand at 28.4%.
Professor of Health Policy at
Curtin University, Mike Daube told
Fairfax media that the extent of the
problem is not fully appreciated
by politicians who appear to be in
“policy denial” about obesity in
Australia.
“We aren’t just fat,’’ Professor
Daube said. “We are on the
medal podium - one of the fattest
countries in the world.
“We have a top-class health
system, we are smoking less, we
eat a lot of fruit and vegetables and
our life expectancy is now around
82 - but much of this progress is
being put at risk because of our
dismal failure to deal with obesity.”
The report also measured
pharmaceutical consumption, with
growth in medication spending
slowing down in many countries,
but in many categories the
quantities consumed continued to
increase, “partly driven by growing
demand for drugs to treat ageingrelated
and chronic diseases”.
The use of cholesterol-lowering
drugs has more than tripled
across OECD countries, with
Australia having the highest global
consumption of these medications
per capita.
The consumption of
antidepressants has also increased
significantly, with Australia being
in second place per capita globally
after Iceland.
To see the full OECD health report
CLICK HERE.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 25 Nov 13To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 25 Nov 13
