December 13, 2023
The further an Australian lives from an urban centre, the lower their life expectancy, according to statistics analysed by the National Rural Health Alliance.
They are also twice as likely to die from preventable illness.
Rural men are 2.5 times – and women 2.8 times – more likely to die from potentially avoidable causes than people in urban areas.
Health risk factors, health outcomes, burden of disease, mortality and morbidity, health service funding and access are some of the data collected in the Alliance’s Rural Health in Australia Snapshot 2023.
The snapshot also provides data on health workforce distribution in rural, regional and remote Australia.
“The statistics show that the further you are from an urban setting, the more likely you may die of disease due to various factors, including the tyranny of distance and workforce shortages,” Alliance chief executive Susi Tegen said.
The Snapshot shows that rural towns of less than 5000 people have access to almost 60 per cent fewer health professionals than major cities per capita, indicating continuing workforce and access challenges in rural areas.
Many rural people have no access to primary healthcare services within an hour’s drive from their home.
They use Medicare up to 50 per cent less than city residents, suggesting that rural people rather not go through the difficult process of a long journey and long waiting times to access health care.
As a result, the burden of disease in remote areas is 1.4 times that of major cities.
“There is clear evidence that per-person spending on healthcare is not equitable, and that this inequity is contributing to poorer health outcomes in rural areas,” Ms Tegen said.
“The biggest deficits are in accessing primary health care which then leads to higher rates of costly and potentially preventable hospitalisations and increased hospital expenditure.
“This is a sad reflection on the rest of Australia, when not every citizen has the same access to a basic healthcare need.”
- External link: Rural Health Snapshot
