Healthy state of the nation
June 24, 2010
AUSTRALIANS are amongst the
healthiest people in the world
according to the Australian Institute
of Health and Welfare’s 12th
biennial national health report card
titled ‘Australia’s Health 2010’.
Based on a compilation of the
latest national health statistics, the
report found that life expectancy
here is among of the highest in the
world - 84 for women and 79 for men.
The report also found that
survival rates for citizens after
diagnosis with a life-threatening
disease were on the rise and that
Aussies are taking anti-smoking
campaigns to heart, as the levels of
smokers in Australia were found to
have fallen to just to one in six.
Cardiovascular disease continues
to be the biggest killer of Aussies,
however mortality rates from CVD
have fallen by an impressive 75%
since a peak in the 1960s, with less
than one quarter of CVD deaths
found to be in persons under 75.
Between 1987 and 2007 the
report found that rates of cancer
deaths fell by 16%, whilst survival
rates for cervical, breast and lung
cancer have also markedly improved.
“Despite some great progress in
death rates, diseases that impact
on the quality of life remain a
concern,” said AIHW Director, Dr
Penny Allbon.
Mental illness was one disease in
particular which showed some
alarming increases, with around
one in five Aussies aged 16-85
found to have suffered from a
mental illness over a 12-month
period (one in four of which were
aged between 16-24).
The number of Aussies suffering
diabetes was also shown to be on
the rise, with numbers tripling in
the past 20 years to around 800,000-
in part attributed to the growing
epidemic of overweight and obese
Aussies - which has led the AIHW
to predict that type 2 diabetes will
become the leading cause of
disease burden by 2023.
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