In 2023, mental health issues, encompassing substance abuse disorders, contributed to 15% of all disease burdens. This positioned them as the second-largest group causing illness and premature death, following closely behind cancer at 17%.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) published its annual Australian Burden of Disease Study for 2023, estimating the number of years of healthy life Australians lost to living with poor health and dying prematurely, reports Xinhua news agency.

Rising Non-Fatal Disease Burden: A Challenge to Australia’s Health Landscape

However, non-fatal disease burden has increased by 6.3 percent in the same period.”Australians are, on average, living longer and spending more years in full health,” AIHW spokesperson Michelle Gourley said in a media release.”However, years lived in ill health are also growing, resulting in little change in the proportion of life spent in full health and contributing to growing demands on the health system and other services.”

Over 91 percent of the healthy years of life lost to cancer was due to premature death, the report said. By comparison, the disease burden from mental health conditions and substance abuse was 1.7 percent fatal and 98.3 percent non-fatal. Since 2003 disease burden due to anxiety disorders has increased by 33 percent, the report said.