A recent report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare says that cancer and cardiovascular disease are the leading causes of death in the country. John Goss from the AIHW's Economics and Health Services Group says that the study indicates that 'Cancer has overtaken cardiovascular disease as the leading cause of burden, largely because of Australia's success in reducing the burden of cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular disease burden rates dropped by 35% in the 10 years prior to 2003. Burden of disease analysis goes beyond the mortality impact of a disease, as it also looks at the impact of illness and disability. This non-fatal burden (the amount of healthy life years lost due to disability from disease and injury) made up 51% of the total."

Cancer Causes the Biggest Burden