Poor Health Issues on the Rise Among Australians

In 2022 Australians had lost an estimated 5.5 million years of healthy life to ill health, revealed study. It marks a 2 percent increase compared to the 2018 study and the first time since monitoring started in 2003 that the burden of sickness and disease has risen.

However, the study found Australians were overall healthier in 2022 than in 2003.

"Fewer Australians are dying prematurely than 19 years ago, but we are still living with similar amounts of ill health," AIHW spokesperson Richard Juckes said in a statement.

Poor Health Increasing among Australians

Of specific diseases, dementia was the second leading cause of total burden, up from 12th in 2003.

The fatal burden of cardiovascular diseases fell by 50 percent between 2003 and 2022 and by 26 percent for cancers.

The analysis was the first burden report to include COVID-19.

It found that the coronavirus accounted for 2.7 percent of the total health burden in Australia, ranking it eighth among specific illnesses.

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Steve Robson, president of the Australian Medical Association (AMA), said the data shows people are living longer with chronic conditions, increasing pressure on the health system.

"One of the startling figures to come out of this report is the fact that anxiety disorders are now in the top five diseases creating a burden on the health system," he told the Australian Associated Press (AAP).

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"We need investment in preventative care across the board, particularly in mental health if we are to prevent more and more patients unnecessarily ending up in hospitals."

Source-IANS