CQ KILLERS: Which diseases have the greatest toll

Mackay Isaac Whitsunday residents are dying two years younger than the rest of Queensland

Zizi Averill and Zizi.Averill@news.com.au

2 min read

November 23, 2020 - 5:00AM

The chief health officer’s report analysed the cause of death of more than 2700 residents over the three years in the Mackay health service.

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MACKAY Isaac Whitsunday residents are dying two years younger than the rest of Queensland, as new data reveals the main reason we are ending up in the morgue.

The Health of Queenslanders 2020 report found the median age of death for residents in the Mackay Hospital and Health Services region was 78, compared to the state average of 80.

The chief health officer's report analysed the cause of death of more than 2700 residents over the three years in the health service, which includes Mackay, Bowen, Proserpine, Clermont, Collinsville, Dysart, Moranbah, Sarina, Glenden, Middlemount and Whitsunday health centres.

The report said there were an average of 928 deaths each year in the region from 2016-2018, with two-fifths of deaths classified as premature.

Each year 397 people under the age of 74 died in the Mackay hospital region.

Premature deaths have remained at a steady rate since the last report in 2018, which found 42 per cent of deaths were people younger than 74.

Lifestyle related diseases were connected to 37 per cent of deaths, killing 348 people.

Cancer was the biggest killer, with 279 people dying because of malignant tumours, with 54 dying from lung cancer and bowel cancer, colon cancer, and rectal cancer killing 26 people.

Prostate cancer killed 18 men and 19 women died of breast cancer.

The chief health officer’s report analysed the cause of death of more than 2700 residents over the three years in the Mackay health service. Picture: Tony Martin

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Heart problems was the next big killer, with 247 people dying from cardiovascular disease and

123 killed by a coronary heart disease.

But in relation to its population, Mackay residents were less likely to die from some of Queensland's biggest killers.

Heart disease, cancer, stroke, dementia and diabetes had a lower death rate per 100,000 persons than the rest of Queensland.

But Mackay health service residents were more likely to die from injury and poisonings, traffic crashes and suicide and self-inflicted injuries.

Drivers were also more likely to die on Mackay roads than in Townsville and Central Queensland health service regions roads.

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