‘Tasmania is really struggling’, says AMA Tasmania President John Saul on rural health report

Twice as likely to die from preventable causes and 60 per cent fewer medical professionals; these are some of the findings from a report on rural health.

AMA State President Dr John Saul. Picture: Chris Kidd

People living in rural and remote areas of Australia are twice as likely to die from preventable causes, new data reveals.

That is one of the key statistics from the Rural Health in Australia Snapshot 2023 report.

The report conducted by the National Rural Health Alliance also found that the burden of disease in remote areas is 1.4 times that of major cities and that towns of less than 5000 people had 60 per cent fewer medical professionals.

Australian Medical Association Tasmania president John Saul said rural areas of the state were “really struggling”.

“There’s reduced access to medical services, reduced management of chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and kidney disease,” Dr Saul said.

National Rural Health Alliance chief executive Susi Tegen.

“Often there are high smoking rates, reduced knowledge among people in these communities and, sadly, higher unemployment rates and lower potential to work to cover the additional costs that are creeping into medical services.

“These issues have been on our radar for years.”

Dr Saul said there were many reasons rural areas struggled with health outcomes.

“There’s all these multipliers that occur when there’s reduced health levels in rural communities that just add up to poorer outcomes sadly,” he said.

“We’ve got a lack of healthcare workers shortages across the board. We’ve got some fantastic doctors in areas like the North-West; we just need more of them.”

National Rural Health Alliance chief executive Susi Tegen said its report was alarming.

“The statistics show that the further you are from an urban setting, the more likely you may die of disease due to various factors, including the tyranny of distance and workforce shortages,” Ms Tegen said.

“The biggest deficits are in accessing primary health care, which then leads to higher rates of costly and potentially preventable hospitalisations and increased hospital expenditure.

“This is a sad reflection on the rest of Australia, where not every citizen has the same access to basic healthcare needs.”

Originally published as ‘Tasmania is really struggling’, says AMA Tasmania President John Saul on rural health report