Chronic disease causes nine out of ten Australian deaths, according to this report.

Chronic disease in Australia

Chronic diseases in Australia are significant contributors to illness, disability and premature death. Chronic disease causes nine out of ten Australian deaths. Heart disease, cancer, lung disease and diabetes account for three quarters of all of these deaths.

In 2007-08 one in 50 people reported having four or more chronic health conditions. This proportion increased with age, with eight per cent of people aged 65 or older reporting four or more chronic health conditions.

It is anticipated that the rate of chronic disease in the community will continue to grow, and the health system will struggle to cope. The World Health Organization has called chronic conditions ‘the health care challenge of this century’

Chronic diseases are often long term. As a result, they pose significant challenges for the health care system. People with chronic disease use health services including hospitals, primary and community health, regularly and often over a long period of time. For example, heart disease was the main cause in about one in every 16 hospital admissions and played a secondary role in one in ten admission. Kidney disease and the need for dialysis in particular, accounted for between one in seven to eight hospital admissions.