A new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
shows that on the international scene overall our health is good -
but there are plenty of differences in the details, depending on
what aspect of health is being compared.
In International Health - How Australia Compares our
health is compared with 19 other developed countries using
70 indicators of health. It draws on data from annual reports to
the WHO and the United Nations, complemented by data from the AIHW,
ABS, the OECD, and other national and international
organisations.
The report's co-author, Dr Kuldeep Bhatia, said that with so
many indicators and such diverse countries, some interesting facts
emerge.
'For example, when we looked at cigarette smoking - a major
cause of death - we found that Australia had the 4th
lowest rate of male regular smokers among the developed countries.
In 1992 approximately 30% of Australian men were regular smokers,
compared with approximately 60% of Japanese men.'
International Health - How Australia Compares also
shows that while our birth rate is high compared with other
developed countries, in 1994 the birth rate for mothers aged
between 25 and 29 - typically the age group with the highest birth
rate - was 126 births per 1,000 women, the lowest recorded to that
date for Australian women.
Other findings in International Health - How Australia
Compares include:
- In 1992 the Australia age-standardised female death rate for
all causes was 347 per 100,000, placing Australia in the bottom
half of the 20 comparison countries.
- Death rates for injury and poisoning have been declining over
the past several decades in most developed countries. The rate for
males in Australia declined by 1.5% p.a. between 1950-54 and 1992.
This rate of decline was the largest among all comparison
countries, and is mainly due to the decline in fatal road
accidents.
- The oral health of Australian children has improved
consistently over recent years and the percentage of children with
no dental caries had increased. In 1995 the Australian DMFT
(Decayed, Missing, or Filled Teeth) score for 12 year olds was 1.0
- a low score among developed countries.
- In 1995, among 20 developed countries, Australia ranked
6th for beer consumption, 8th for wine
consumption and 12th for spirits consumption per
capita.
24 February 1999
Further information: Dr Kuldeep Bhatia, ph. 02
6244 1144, or Mr Michael de Looper, ph. 02 6244 1137.
For media copies of the report: Lena Searle, ph.
02 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for details.