2007
Traffic accidents and preventable conditions such as coronary heart disease are being blamed for death rates in the bush being 10 per cent higher than in cities.
A report, to be released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, found mortality rates in the most remote areas of Australia were up to 70 per cent higher than in major cities.
In Victoria in 2001, there were 497 more deaths in regional and remote areas than there would have been if city death rates applied.
Study author Sally Bullock said the higher mortality rates were concentrated in people aged under 65. “Interestingly, the analysis shows people over age 65 who live in remote areas have lower death rates than their counterparts in major cities,” she said.
In regional areas, traffic accidents were responsible for 18 per cent of deaths above major city rates, coronary heart disease for 13 per cent and suicide for 9 per cent.
The report noted that long travel distances, higher speeds and animals on the road increased the risk of fatal car accidents in the country.
Higher rates of smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, and lack of access to health services, were also listed as possible reasons why people in the country tended to die younger. The report said types of jobs available in the bush could also be responsible for higher death rates.
“Many occupations in regional and remote areas (e.g. mining, transport, forestry, commercial fishing and farming) entail higher levels of risk than other occupations,” it said.
Men in regional areas were 15–30 per cent more likely to die than men in major cities.
Death rates for women in regional areas were 10–25 per cent higher than the city rate.
Mortality rates in remote areas were pushed up by indigenous Australians, who tended to have poorer health than the rest of the population.
More than 55 per cent of people in very remote areas are among the most disadvantaged in Australia, compared with 20 per cent in cities.
‘More die younger in bush’, Herald Sun, 18 December, 2007