Blog 7: Australia

Hello mates and welcome to my second to last blog of the semester!

This week I will be focusing on Australia! Australia is located between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean (CIA, 2018). They currently have a population of about 23 million with a life expectancy of 79 for males and 85 for females (CIA, 2018). Compared to the other countries that I have analyzed, Australia is in a good state when it comes to SDG 3. There have been other countries with both life expectancy’s in the 80s which makes me wonder why this country may not be there quite yet. 

SDG 3 encompasses many major health issues like we have seen present in other countries. I always start with maternal and child health because it is a big part of what SDG 3 stands for. According to the Australian Government and Institute of Health and Welfare, in 2016 was 8.5 deaths per 100,000 women giving birth (UN Global Compact, n.d.). Between 2006 and 2016, 281 women were reported to have died during pregnancy or within 42 days of the end of pregnancy (UN Global Compact (n.d.). “In Australia, where childbirth is safe for most women, maternal death is rare,” (UN Global Compact (n.d.). After reading that maternal death is rare in this country, it is satisfying to also know that they go in depth on every case that occurs. 

            When analyzing Australia’s infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases, they could use improvements. According to the World Health Organization, every year 2 million people are newly infected with HIV, 9.6 million with tuberculosis and 214 million with malaria (UN Global Compact, n.d).  Statistics also estimate that more than 10 million people fail to reach 70 due to cardiovascular disease and cancer (UN Global Compact, n.d). Australia is one of the first country’s that I see where people will die from air pollution caused by cooking fuel. The condition of the earth is affecting our health and the worse global warming and other environmental factors get, the worse our health will get. Australia ranks are among the top six countries globally in terms of life expectancy, but there are enormous disparities between its Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations (UN Global Compact, n.d). This answers why some Australians have a life expectancy about 10 years shorter than non-indigenous Australians.

Australia’s proportion of GDP on health has increased. In 2016, Australia’s health expenditure to GDP was 9.6%  (Australian Government, n.d.b).Healthcare in Australia is funded by the Australian Government, state and territory governments, and non-government entities such as individuals, private health insurers, third-party insurers and workers compensation (Australian government, n.d.b). These sources of funds pay for health care across the health system through various funding arrangements. Australia like many other countries still has work to do in order to improve with SDG 3. 

References

Australian Government. (n.d.). Maternal deaths in Australia 2016, Report. Retrieved from https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/mothers-babies/maternal-deaths-in-australia-2016/contents/report

Australian Government. (n.d.b). Australia’s Health. Retrieved from https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/941d2d8b-68e0-4883-a0c0-138d43dba1b0/aihw-aus-221-chapter-2-2.pdf.aspx

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). (2018). The World Fact book: Australia. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/-library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/as.html

UN Global Compact. (n.d.). Australian SDGs Hub for Business. Retrieved from http://www.unglobalcompact.org.au/sdgs/non-business-advancing-the-sdgs/sdg-3