Mr Connor Jackson

In Australian communities there are several chronic health conditions that are prevalent, these conditions include cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory disease, injury and mental health problems. The Prevalence of a disease is defined as the ratio (for a given time period) of the number of occurrences of a disease or event to the number of units at risk in the population. Morbidity statistics such as: hospital use, doctor’s visits and Medicare stats, and health surveys/reports give relevant statistics to the prevalence of disease and moreover, a broader perspective of a nations health. There are several factors affecting an Individuals health these include there socioeconomic status, location (urban or remote), population groups (e.g. Indigenous). In a country such as Australia the community strives to attain health equality for all, the government has attempted to ascertain this goal through the implementation of PPPPC (Social justice principles, priority population groups, prevalence of condition, potential for prevention and early intervention, cost to the individual and community). This holistic approach to health equality aims to provide equality for all.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains Australia’s biggest killer, mostly because of the deaths it causes among older people. It is also the second largest contributor to the burden of disease in Australia, after cancer. In 2007 CVD, which encompasses all heart and blood vessel, defects and conditions (e.g. stroke, heart attack) attributed to over a third of all deaths in Australia. It was the primary cause of death for over 46,623 Australians in that year. The prevalence of CVD in Australia is closely linked to the age of individuals, as the age of an individual increases the prevalence of CVD also trends upwards.

The Graph illustrates the upward trending nature of prevalence in older age groups, of those aged 35-44 10% had reported some form of long term CVD condition, whilst over 60% of those