Health in Australia

Australia is a high income country, and this is reflected in the good status of health of the population overall. In 2011, Australia ranked 2nd on the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Index, indicating the level of development of a country.[1] Despite the overall good status of health, the disparities occurring in the Australian healthcare system are a problem. The poor and those living in remote areas as well as indigenous people are, in general, less healthy than others in the population, and programs have been implemented to decrease this gap. These include increased outreach to the indigenous communities and government subsidies to provide services for people in remote or rural areas.

Australia's Human Development Index and Component indicators for 2015 relative to selected countries and groups [2]
HDI Value HDI Rank Life Expectancy at Birth Expected years of Schooling Mean years of Schooling GNI per capita (PPP USD)
Australia 0.939 2 82.5 20.4 13.2 42,822
Canada 0.920 10 82.2 16.3 13.1 42,582
New Zealand 0.915 13 82.0 19.2 12.5 32,870
OECD 0.887 - 80.3 15.9 11.9 37,916
Vey High HDI 0.892 - 79.4 16.4 12.2 39,605

Life Expectancy

Life expectancy in Australia is among the highest in the world. According to the 2013 Global Burden of Disease Study Australia was ranked third highest in life expectancy.[3] The life expectancy (at birth) in 2015 was estimated to be 79.7 years for males and 84.74 years for females.[4] In 2018 the average number of years a newborn Australian child would live if current mortality patterns were to stay the same was 82.9 years, this has increased from 69.3 years since 1950.[5] In 2015, the crude birth rate was 13.3 per 1,000 people,[6] while the total fertility rate in 2018 was 1.83.[7] The crude death rate in 2018 was 6.7 per 1,000 people.[8] The infant mortality rate was 3 per 1,000 live births.[9] In 2002/2004, less than 2.5% of the population was undernourished.[10]

Life Expectancy in Australia is above the global average of 72 years as of 2016.[11]

Under 5 Mortality Rate (U5MR)

Since 1950, Australia’s U5MR has dropped from 31.6 deaths per 1000 live births to 8.85 deaths in 1990 to 3.4 currently in 2018.[12] The global U5MR was 93 deaths in 1990 and was recorded at 40.8 in 2016.[13][14]

Disability Adjusted Life Years

The top ranked causes of Disability Adjusted Life Years lost for Australian citizens as of 2016 for all ages and sexes was neoplasms (accounting for 3,751.84 DALYs per 100,000 population), 2nd Mental Disorders (accounting for 3,216.24 DALYs per 100,000 population), 3rd Musculoskeletal Disorders (accounting for 2,956.04 DALYs per 100,000 population) and 4th Cardiovascular diseases (accounting for 2,895.27 DALYs per 100,000 population). While on the global scale in 2016 Cardiovascular Disease ranked 1st, Diarreal/Lower Respiratory Infections/Other infections ranked 2nd Neoplasm ranked 3rd and Other non- communicable diseases ranked 4th.[15]

Since 2013 Australia’s total DALY’s has been slightly increasing each year.[16]

Causes of death

The leading causes of death in Australia in 2011 were ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, dementia and alzheimer disease, trachea, bronchus and lung cancers and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.[17] More than half of all consultations with GPs in Australia are in relation to chronic condition such as heart disease, cancer or diabetes.[18]

The fastest growing chronic illness in Australia is diabetes.[19] There are approximately 100,000 new diagnoses every year. On average one Australian is diagnosed with type 2 diabetes every five minutes.[20]

There was an 80% increase in cyclist deaths on Australian roads between 2017 and 2018. 45 people died.[21]

The Top leading causes of death according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) as of 2016 in Australia were 1st Cardiovascular Disease (accounting for 219.03 deaths per 100,000 population), 2nd Neoplasms (accounting for 201.65 deaths per 100,000 population), 3rd Neurological Disorders (accounting for 76.18 deaths per 100,000 population). In the Western Pacific Region in which Australia lies within, the leading causes of death are 1st Cardiovascular Disease (Accounting for 274.55 deaths per 100,000 population), 2nd Neoplasms (accounting for 172.8 deaths per 100,000 population) and 3rd Chronic Respiratory Disease (59.25 deaths per 100,000 population). [22]

Health status

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, "The health status of a country incorporates a number of different measures to indicate the overall level of health. It is more than merely the presence or absence of disease; it includes measures of physical illness, levels of functioning and mental wellbeing."[23]

A 2007 study found that the 11 largest preventable contributions to the indigenous burden of disease in Australia were tobacco, alcohol, illicit drugs, high body mass, inadequate physical activity, low intake of fruit and vegetables, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, unsafe sex, child sexual abuse and intimate partner violence. The 26% of Indigenous Australians living in remote areas experience 40% of the health gap of Indigenous Australians overall (Vos, Barker, Begg, Stanley & Lopez, 2008, pp. 460–477).

Preventable diseases

Cigarette smoking is the largest preventable cause of death and disease in Australia[24] but the proportion of the population who smoke, 16%, is amongst the lowest in the world. It was 34% in 1983.[25] See Category:Smoking in Australia.

Chronic non-communicable diseases account for a higher proportion of deaths than infectious diseases in Australia.[26] Australia has the fifth highest rate of obesity in the OECD. More than a third of the adult population are overweight and about a third obese. 57% do not take enough exercise.[27]

Australian health statistics show that chronic disease such as heart disease, particularly strokes which reflects a more affluent lifestyle is a common cause of death.[28] Australians the majority of whom are fair skinned are prone to skin cancer because of exposure to UV light from sunlight with 80% of all cancers diagnosed being of the skin, unlike in Canada or US where skin cancer is 2-3 times less common because of less intense sunlight.[29]

Other issues include compensation for victims of asbestos exposure related disease, lead exposure due to inhalation of lead based paints and the slow development of HealthConnect. The provision of adequate mental health services and the quality of aged care, are other problems in some parts of the country.

Vaccination

In an effort to boost vaccination rates in Australia, the Australian government decided that starting on 1 January 2016, certain benefits (such as the universal 'Family Allowance' welfare payments for parents of children) will no longer be available for conscientious objectors of vaccination; those with medical grounds for not vaccinating will continue to receive such benefits. The policy is supported by a majority of Australian parents as well as the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and Early Childhood Australia. In 2014, about 97 percent of children under 7 years have been vaccinated, though the number of conscientious objectors to vaccination has increased by 24,000 to 39,000 over the past decade.[30]

The government began the Immunise Australia Program to increase national immunisation rates.[31] They fund a number of different vaccinations for certain groups of people. The intent is to encourage the most at-risk populations to get vaccinated.[32] The government maintains an immunization schedule.[33]

See also

Health care in Australia

Physical fitness campaigns and programmes

Initiatives

References

  1. ↑ Boslaugh S. Health care systems around the world: a comparative guide. California: SAGE publications; 2013. 606 p
  2. ↑ "Human Development Reports". hdr.undp.org. Retrieved 2018-09-07.
  3. ↑ Sue Dunlevy (5 March 2013). "Australia now third in the world for life expectancy and healthy life". news.com.au. News Limited. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  4. ↑ "The World Factbook". www.cia.gov. Retrieved 2015-12-24.
  5. ↑ "Gapminder Tools". Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  6. ↑ "Gapminder Tools". Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  7. ↑ "Gapminder Tools". Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  8. ↑ "Gapminder Tools". Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  9. ↑ "Gapminder Tools". Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  10. ↑ "Britannica World Data, Australia". 2009 Book of the Year. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 2009. pp. 516–517. ISBN 978-1-59339-837-8.
  11. ↑ "Life expectancy at birth, total (years) | Data". data.worldbank.org. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  12. ↑ "Gapminder Tools". Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  13. ↑ "GHO | By category | Probability of dying per 1000 live births - Data by WHO region". apps.who.int. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  14. ↑ "Under-five mortality - UNICEF DATA". UNICEF DATA. Retrieved 2018-09-07.
  15. ↑ "GBD Compare | IHME Viz Hub". vizhub.healthdata.org. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  16. ↑ "GBD Compare | IHME Viz Hub". vizhub.healthdata.org. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  17. ↑ "Causes of Death, Australia, 2011". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 14 March 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  18. ↑ "Building a 21st Century Primary Health Care System" (PDF). Department of Health and Ageing. p. 9. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  19. ↑ "Policy and Advocacy". Diabetes Australia. 16 May 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  20. ↑ Sophie Tarr (9 July 2012). "One Aussie diagnosed with type 2 diabetes every five minutes". Herald Sun. News Limited. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  21. ↑ "Cyclists fatalities surge by 80 per cent in the last 12 months". News.com. 6 August 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  22. ↑ "GBD Compare | IHME Viz Hub". vizhub.healthdata.org. Retrieved 2018-09-07.
  23. ↑ Australia's Health 2014. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare; 2014. p. 578
  24. ↑ Smoking – A Leading Cause of Death The National Tobacco Campaign. Retrieved on 17 October 2007
  25. ↑ Britnell, Mark (2015). In Search of the Perfect Health System. London: Palgrave. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-137-49661-4.
  26. ↑ AIHW, Begg S, Vos T, Barker B, Stevenson C, Stanley L & Lopez A 2007. The burden of disease and injury in Australia 2003. Cat. no. PHE 82. Canberra: AIHW. Viewed 24 May 2014 <http://www.aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=6442467990>.
  27. ↑ Britnell, Mark (2015). In Search of the Perfect Health System. London: Palgrave. p. 56. ISBN 978-1-137-49661-4.
  28. ↑ Queensland Government (2006). Priorities in Progress, Queensland 2005–06. Queensland Treasury.
  29. ↑ "Skin cancer - Cancer Council Australia". www.cancer.org.au. Retrieved 2015-12-24.
  30. ↑ Peatling S (13 April 2015). "Support for government push to withdraw welfare payments from anti vaccination parents". Federal Politics. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  31. ↑ "About the Program". Immunise Australia Program. Australian Government, Department of Health. 4 September 2014. Archived from the original on 4 May 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  32. ↑ "Free vaccine Victoria – Criteria for eligibility". Health. State Government of Victoria. 2 April 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  33. ↑ "Your child's immunisation schedule". Australian Childhood Immunisation Register for health professionals. Australian Government Department of Human Services. 20 March 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  34. ↑ Healthdirect
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