Australia Yearbook - 2001

334 Year Book Australia 2001
National Health Priority
Areas
The health of Australians is among the best in the
world. Nationwide efforts, such as the recognition
of national health priority areas, will help to
ensure that this state continues.
The National Health Priority Areas (NHPA)
initiative emphasises collaborative action between
Commonwealth Government and the State and
Territory Governments, the National Health and
Medical Research Council (NHMRC), the
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
(AIHW), non-government organisations,
appropriate experts, clinicians and consumers.
The initiative recognises that specific strategies
for reducing the burden of illness should be
holistic, encompassing the continuum of care
from prevention through treatment and
management to rehabilitation, and should be
underpinned by evidence based on appropriate
research.
Priorities are established through national
consultation taking into account:
the importance of the disease to the
community;
the impact of the disease (including morbidity,
mortality, potential years of life lost, costs to
the individual and the community, and
consequent inequities such as socioeconomic
disadvantage);
the achievability of improved outcomes; and
the feasibility of measuring the impact of
activities.
At present, six priority areas have been endorsed
by Australian Health Ministers. These are:
cardiovascular health, cancer control, injury
prevention and control, mental health, diabetes
mellitus, and asthma. A range of program
initiatives has been established, aimed at
improving health outcomes in these areas. A set
of indicators has been developed, or is currently
under development, to assist monitoring of the
priority areas. The indicators have been designed
to monitor the efficacy of program interventions.
In addition to the NHPA initiative, the National
Public Health Partnership is developing national
public health performance indicators designed to
monitor health determinants as well as health
status in populations.
Cardiovascular health
Cardiovascular disease includes all heart disease,
cerebrovascular disease, and diseases of the
arteries, arterioles and capillaries. Ischaemic heart
disease and stroke were the leading causes of
burden of disease in Australia in 1996; together
these conditions account for nearly 18% of
healthy life lost through premature death or
disability (AIHW 2000). According to consecutive
ABS health surveys, the prevalence of
cardiovascular disease in the adult Australian
population increased from 17% (2.2 million) in
1989–90 to 21% (2.8 million) in 1995 (table 9.9).
Age-standardisation of the data indicated that
over this period the ageing of the Australian
population played only a small part in the
increase in prevalence of cardiovascular disease.
9.9 PREVALENCE OF CARDIOVASCULAR CONDITIONS, Persons Aged 18 Years and Over
1989–90 1995
Type of condition ’000 % ’000 %
Hypertension 1 535.1 12.3 1 932.5 14.4
Heart disease 440.1 3.5 493.5 3.7
Atherosclerosis 45.7 0.4 25.5 0.2
Stroke (and other cerebrovascular disease) 89.6 0.7 115.7 0.9
Other diseases of the circulatory system 274.8 2.2 694.8 5.2
Ill-defined signs and symptoms of heart conditions 256.2 2.1 337.5 2.5
Total cardiovascular conditions(a) 2 164.7 17.4 2 795.5 20.9
(a) Each person may have reported more than one type of condition, and therefore components may not add to totals.
Source: National Health Survey: Cardiovascular and Related Conditions, Australia, 1995 (4372.0).