Hunter residents are significantly more likely to die a premature death than other Australians, according to the latest national health statistics on premature death.
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The Hunter New England Central Coast region was ranked ninth nationally for its premature death rate in 2019, up to 60 per cent of which were deemed potentially avoidable.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare statistics, released this week highlights significant disparities in the likelihood of dying a premature death, depending on where you live.
The national average in 2019 was 487.7, making up 34 per cent of all deaths of people under 75, more than half of which were potentially avoidable.
The leading causes of death locally and nationally were coronary heart disease and dementia, with diabetes, prostate cancer, and colorectal cancer in the top ten.
Influenza and pneumonia were ranked the eleventh most common cause of death in the Hunter New England and Central Coast region, followed by breast cancer at number 12.
Suicide as a cause of death was also significantly higher than the national average in the Hunter New England Central Coast region.
There were 755 deaths by suicide throughout the region between 2016 and 2020, with men more likely to die by suicide than women.
The region was ranked eleventh nationally for all types of potentially avoidable deaths.
The institute defines potentially avoidable deaths as a measure of health system performance.
They include deaths among people under 75 from conditions that are "potentially preventable through individualised care and or treatable through existing primary or hospital care".
The list includes cancers, diabetes, heart disease, renal failure, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease.
The median age of death in the Hunter New England and Central Coast region was 81.6, slightly below the Australian average of 81.7. North Sydney was highest at 85.8. Indigenous Australians born in 2015-2017 can expect to die around eight years earlier than non-Indigenous Australians.