First Australian Burden of Disease Study report

Fatal Burden of Disease 2010 is the first report in the Australian Burden of Disease Study series. It shows the contribution of each disease group to fatalities by age and sex, the three leading disease groups being Cancer (35%), Cardiovascular diseases (23%) and Injuries (13%).

Burden of disease analysis compares the fatal and non-fatal impacts of different diseases and injuries using a summary measure, the DALY (disability-adjusted life year), to describe the resulting health loss. One (1) DALY represents 1 year of healthy life lost, either through premature death or from living with an illness or injury. This report provides estimates of fatal burden for Australia for 2010; that is, the component of the DALY resulting from premature death.  There were around 143,500 deaths in Australia in 2010, resulting in 2.25 million years of life lost.