Burden of disease

This section of the Chief Health Officer’s report looks at some of the disease groups that have a significant impact on Australians.
It draws on:

• the Australian burden of disease study: impact and causes of illness and death in Australia 2015, published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in 2019
• the Victorian population health survey 2016, published by the Department of Health and Human Services in 2018.

It also discusses major risk factors which play a role in the disease burden.

It notes that a large proportion of the disease burden can be prevented.

Issues discussed

Smoking is the leading individual contributor to the disease burden in Australia.

However, when overweight and obesity, dietary risks and high blood glucose are taken together, their combined contribution to the total disease burden is much greater than that of smoking.

This section of the Chief Health Officer report thus includes discussion of overweight and obesity and alcohol use – key issues in the disease burden of Victoria.