Life expectancy is an indication of how many years a person can expect to live, assuming death rates do not change. The term ‘health expectancy’ is used to describe, within a person’s life expectancy, the expected years spent in various health states from birth to death, such as years with disability. However, disability does not...

Around 150,500 closed treatment episodes for alcohol and other drug use were provided in Australia in 2010-11 - almost 5,000 more than in 2009-10. For almost half of these episodes, the principal drug of concern was alcohol. Cannabis was the second most common principal drug of concern. Counselling was the most common type of treatment...

This report focuses on the appropriate use of certain medications for the management of obstructive airways disease, including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Appropriate use of medications is important in maximising health benefits for patients, minimising the negative effects of medications, and controlling health costs. This report focuses on the appropriate use of...

This year’s opinion polling looked at the importance of health and medical research to ordinary Australians, perceptions of who currently pays for health and medical research, and opinions on who should fund it. The survey was conducted online by email invitation to a national panel between 19 and 28 June 2012 with a representative sample...

Background: Older people often take a relatively high number of prescription medicines and experience a range of issues linked with these medicines. Older people admitted to hospital for an acute condition often experience changes to their medicines and as a result they may experience problems such as adverse medicine events. The number of older people...