Fed: More Aborigines dying, ABS figures show

AAP General News (Australia)
12-11-2001
Fed: More Aborigines dying, ABS figures show

New figures show indigenous people in Australia are dying at twice the rate of the
overall population -- and at a much younger age.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics says Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders are
more likely than other Australians to die from accident, assault and intentionally harming
themselves.

The death rate of the men is almost twice as high as that of the indigenous women.

And the bureau says indigenous babies under the age of one have a higher death rate
than their peers.

The median age at death for indigenous people is 53 -- a full 25 years younger than
the median age at death for the total population.

The leading causes of death for indigenous people is diseases of the circulatory system,
malignant tumours and external causes -- such as accidents and self-harm.

AAP RTV lm/daw/ldj/de/rt

KEYWORD: DEATHS INDIGENOUS (CANBERRA)

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