A recent report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics has found that while life expectancy and education attainment rates continue to rise, gaps in health and education outcomes continue to exist between those living in cities and their regional counterparts.

 

The report, the latest of the ABS’s Australian Social Trends series, found that, in 2008, people living in the country were three times more likely to die from transport related accidents, twice as likely to suffer and die from high blood pressure, 1.7 times more likely to die from heart failure and 1.6 times more likely to die from diabetes.

 

In addition to environmental health problems, the study found that people living outside major cities were more likely to be daily smokers and risky drinkers.

 

Availability of health care facilities is also a possible contributor to the discrepancy between the health of city dwellers and the regional population, who were more likely than those living in major cities to have reported that they had waited longer than they felt was acceptable for a GP appointment (23% compared with 16%) and more likely to have gone to an emergency department because the waiting time for a GP appointment was too long (12% compared with 2%).

 

More details on these topics are available in the March edition of Australian Social Trends, 2011 (cat.no. 4102.0).