National Women's Health Policy
Major health issues faced by Australian women
Table of contents
- Foreword - From the Minister for Health and Ageing
- Executive Summary
- Introduction
Chapter One: History of the policy and policy principles
Chapter Two: Key health challenges for Australian women today and into the future- Chapter Three: Women's experience of health issues
- Current and future government action against the four priority health issues
- Social factors influencing women's health and wellbeing
- Goal areas
- Appendix A - List of all submissions received
- References - 1-100
- References - 101 - 200
- References - 201 - 300
- References - 301 - 400
- References - 401 - 457
Measures of general health
Self-assessed health is a commonly used measure of health status. In 2006, just over half of women aged 18 years and over (57.9 per cent) considered their health status to be excellent or very good. The percentage of women who rated their health as poor or fair increased with age, while those who considered their health to be excellent or very good peaked at ages 25 to 34 years and then declined with increasing age.3The leading underlying causes of death in females are shown, grouped by age, in the table below. Across all age groups, cardiovascular disease, including heart attack, stroke and other heart and blood vessel diseases, remains the biggest killer of Australian women. This is despite a 76 per cent fall in death rates since the 1960s. Age groupings show that, despite its place as the leading underlying cause of death in women, the majority of these deaths happen in women over 65.
Table 1: Leading underlying broad causes of death in females by age group
| Age group | Leading underlying broad causes of death in females by age group | % of deaths |
| Under 1 year | Conditions originating in the perinatal period | 46.0 |
| Congenital anomalies | 28.6 | |
| Ill-defined conditions | 11.5 | |
| Injury and poisoning | 3.5 | |
| 1-14 years | Injury and poisoning | 36.3 |
| Cancer and other tumours | 17.9 | |
| Nervous system disorders | 19.4 | |
| Cardiovascular disease | 7.1 | |
| 15-24 years | Injury and poisoning | 53.8 |
| Cancer and other tumours | 14.2 | |
| Cardiovascular disease | 7.8 | |
| Ill-defined conditions | 5.6 | |
| 25-44 years | Cance and other tumours | 35.0 |
| Injury and poisoning | 27.7 | |
| Cariovascular disease | 11.5 | |
| Il-defined conditions | 4.5 | |
| 45-64 years | Cancer and other trumours | 55.8 |
| Cardiovascular disease | 13.9 | |
| Injury and poisoning | 7.1 | |
| Respiratory system diseases | 5.9 | |
| 65-84 years | Cancer and other tumours | 33.3 |
| Cardiovascular Disease | 32.4 | |
| Respiratory system diseases | 8.8 | |
| Endocrine-related disorders | 4.8 | |
| 85 + years | Cardiovascular disease | 48.6 |
| Cancer and other tumours | 12.1 | |
| Respiratory system diseases | 8.7 | |
| Mental disorders | 8.3 | |
| All ages | Cardiovascular disease | 36.5 |
| Cancer and other tumours | 26.0 | |
| Respiratory system diseases | 8.2 | |
| Mental disorders | 5.4 |