10 December 2006

Living well and living longer: the health of the people of NSW

NSW residents are living longer and enjoying better health with decreasing deaths from cancer and heart disease, increased life expectancy and falling infant mortality according to the latest report on population health in NSW released today by Health Minister John Hatzistergos.

"The 2006 Health of the People of NSW - Report of the Chief Health Officer released today, puts our life expectancy in the world's top five, with babies born today expected to live to 80 years on average," Mr Hatzistergos said.

"The report provides detailed data on the health status of the NSW population including life expectancy, immunisation rates and major causes of illness and hospitalisation.

"Today's release marks the 10th anniversary of the Health of the People of NSW Report in NSW.

"This report provides a comprehensive overview of the state of health of NSW residents, as well as highlighting emerging health issues and priorities.

"It confirms our many achievements in the public health system during the past decade and assists us greatly in determining where we need to direct our future resources," he said.

Key findings include:

• NSW residents are living longer, healthier lives
• The gap in life expectancy between males and females is closing
• The death rates from cancer and heart disease are at a record low
• Fewer people are smoking
• Childhood immunisation rates in Aboriginal children have increased
• HIV diagnoses have stabilised
• Suicide rates are at their lowest in 20 years.

"Our cancer rates in NSW are as low as or lower than anywhere in the world, vaccination rates have improved and smoking-related deaths have halved for men and decreased by 33 per cent for women in the last 20 years," Mr Hatzistergos said.

"However, we cannot afford to become complacent. The number of deaths from cancer in NSW is still too high, and we have other emerging health issues like childhood obesity, Type 2 diabetes and injuries from falls," he said.

The 2006 Health of the People of NSW provides detailed information to assist health planners, policy makers and clinicians develop strategies to improve the health status of NSW residents.

For the first time, the report includes maps of population and health outcomes by local government area as well as data on childhood obesity and projections for hospitalisation and deaths to 2015.

Major findings of the 2006 Health of the People of NSW Chief Health Officer's Report include:

• Life expectancy at birth continues to increase with the gap between males and females closing. In 2004, expectancy at birth was 78.9 years for males and 83.7 years for females - an increase of 12.1 years in men and 10 years in women since 1970.
• Population ageing: There were 6,804,522 people in NSW in 2005, an annual growth rate of 0.96 per cent in the previous five years. By 2025 the population is expected to increase by 17 per cent to be just over 7,960,000. Approximately half the population is aged 36 years or more. Females slightly outnumber males. Women make up 55 per cent of people aged 65 years or over and 64 per cent of the population aged 80 years or over. In 2025, the proportion of people aged 65 years and over will increase to 20 per cent (from 14 per cent in 2005) and for people aged 80 years and over it will increase to 5 per cent of the population (up from 4 per cent in 2005). Local Government areas expected to show the biggest growth tend to be located along the NSW coast, with the largest increases expected in Camden (124 per cent) and Liverpool (62 per cent).
• Coronary heart disease death rates have reduced by nearly 60 per cent for men and 57 per cent for women in the past 20 years - this is due to improved clinical care and the impact of reduced risk factors including smoking and poor diet in the general population and better management of risk factors for those with chronic heart disease by general practitioners.
• Stroke related deaths have halved during the past 20 years and hospitalisations for stroke have decreased by almost 20 per cent in the last 16 years.
• Cancer death rates continue to fall and cancer survival continues to increase. While the number of people diagnosed with cancer has increased, over the last 10 years, cancer death rates have fallen by 16 per cent in men and 10 per cent in women. Around 63 per cent of people diagnosed with cancer in NSW are alive five years later. During the past 10 years cancer death rates have fallen in prostate cancer by 22 per cent, colorectal cancer by 20 per cent and in breast cancer by 18 per cent. Cervical cancer death rates have fallen by 46 per cent in the past decade due in part to regular Pap testing and follow-up treatment monitored by the NSW Cervical Screening Program.
• Smoking rates have decreased across the board, declining by 12 per cent for men and 8 per cent for women in the last 20 years. The decline is mainly due to more females quitting smoking and less men 'taking up' smoking. Smoking rates in secondary school students aged 12-17 years decreased by 9 per cent in males between 1993 and 2005 and around 13 per cent for females, during the same period.
• Immunisation rates in Aboriginal infants and toddlers increased between 2003 and 2005 and are now just below the rate for non-Aboriginal children. In NSW, at the end of December 2005, 88 per cent of Aboriginal infants were fully immunised, an increase from 86 per cent in 2003. Coverage for non-Aboriginal infants was 91 per cent.
• Decreases in injury and poisoning death and hospitalisation rates: In the 20 years between 1985 and 2004, death rates from all causes of injury decreased by 35 per cent. However, injury and poisoning remains the leading cause of death in people aged 1-44 years. Between 1990-91 and 2004-05, hospitalisation rates fell by 46 per cent for unintentional poisoning in children (0-4yrs), decreased 23 per cent for pedestrian injuries and 25 per cent for near-drownings.
• Suicide rates are the lowest in 20 years - they fell by more than 28 per cent between 1995 and 2004.
• HIV/AIDS rates have stabilised but there is some evidence of a decline in safe-sex practices among men and women. HIV diagnoses in NSW steadily declined throughout the 1990s and 2001, increased in 2002 and 2003 and declined again in 2004 and 2005. There were 242 cases of infectious syphilis in 2005, down from 301 in 2004, but a large increase from the 128 cases in 2002.
• Diabetes has more than doubled in Australia during the past 20 years with 8.4 per cent of males and 6.9 per cent of females in NSW reporting the disease in 2005 (previously 5.2 per cent for men and 4.3 per cent for women in 1997). Type 2 diabetes accounts for up to 90 per cent of cases.
• Fall injury rates: The rate of hospitalisations associated with falls has increased by 70 per cent between 1989-90 and 2004-05 for people aged 65 years and over. The rate was just under a third higher among females.
• Obesity: In 2005 around 50 per cent of the adult population in NSW were either overweight or obese. In 2004, almost one quarter of school students aged 5-16 years in NSW were overweight or obese, with around 33 per cent in boys and 30 per cent in girls aged 9-12 years. These rates have increased markedly during the past 20 years. While three-quarters of children 11-16 years are exercising enough, only 15-25 per cent of students ate the recommended amount of vegetables and 60 per cent of boys and 40 per cent of girls drank more than 250ml of soft-drink per day.
• Alcohol: In 2005, 25.7 per cent of males and 15.6 per cent of females in the 16-24 years age group reporting high risk drinking. This compares with 2003 data that found the proportion of young adults aged 16-24 years participating in high risk drinking was 33.8 per cent for males and 27.1 per cent for females.

For a range of health information, go online to www.health.nsw.gov.au