THE BENEFITS
So you eat the right foods, live an active lifestyle and avoid taking risks that might affect your health. But even if you have no family or personal history of serious illness you can’t be sure that nothing will go wrong in the future. Sometimes you’re simply in the firing line for ill-health.

Private Health For Him
Being young and fit is no guarantee that you won’t need medical care in the near future:
• One in five people aged between 20 and 30 will go to hospital this year.
• One in four people aged between 30 and 40 will go to hospital this year.
• One in three people aged between 50 and 65 will go to hospital this year.
  *(Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) 2010. Australian Hospital Statistics 2008-09)

Here are some things to consider before you declare yourself invincible:
• In 2007-08, about 75% of Australians had a long-term condition.
  *(Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Australia’s Health 2010)

Top 10 male conditions
1. Long sightedness
2. Short sightedness
3. Hayfever and allergic rhinitis
4. Back pain/problems, disc disorders
5. Deafness (complete and partial)
6. Asthma
7. Hypertensive disease
8. Chronic sinusitis
9. Mood (affective) problems
10.  High cholesterol

Other common health issues for men:
• Heart disease
• Work related injuries
• High blood pressure
• Respiratory disease
• Digestive disorders
• Skin cancer
• Osteoarthritis
• Migraine
• Hernia

Private Health For Her
While most adult Australians consider themselves to be healthy, levels of health actually differ among a variety of groups in Australia. The female population have specific areas of interest and concern when it comes to health, and may be more susceptible to some conditions as compared to other age and gender groups.
• Females accounted for 57.5% of all GP encounters in 2008–09.
• Hospitalisation rates are higher for females of child-bearing age – almost 400 per 1,000 population at age 25–34 years.
  *(Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Australia’s Health 2010)

Top Female conditions
1. Long sightedness
2. Short sightedness
3. Hayfever and allergic rhinitis
4. Back pain/problems, disc disorders
5. Chronic sinusitis
6. Asthma
7. Hypertensive disease
8. Osteoarthritis
9. Mood (affective) problems
10.  Migraine

Other common health issues for women:
• Heart disease
• Fertility
• Pregnancy and childbirth
• Digestive disorders
• Gynaecological problems
• Menopause
• Deafness (complete and partial)
• Osteoporosis
• High cholesterol

Private Health For Families
Good health is central to a happy and harmonious family life. However, it is sometimes unavoidable for a family member’s health to be compromised due to an illness or an accident around the home.
• In 2008-09, there were 567,533 hospitalisations among children aged under 15 years.
*(Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) 2010. Australian Hospital Statistics 2008-09)
• Injury and poisoning is one of the main reasons for children’s hospitalisation with over 67,000 cases in 2007-08.
*(Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Australia’s Health 2010)

Common medical problems:
• Infections
• Bites and stings
• Respiratory illness including asthma
• Allergy
• Falls
• Dog bites
• Car accidents (passenger and pedestrian)

Private Health For Fitness Enthusiasts
We all know that regular exercise is good for us, but being super-fit doesn’t protect you from getting sick or injured. In most cases sports injuries are minor but sometimes they are serious enough to need hospital treatment. In 2002–03 there were 45,452 sports related hospitalisations. Of all those admitted to hospital, 14,218 were children under 14.
*(Source: Hospitalised Sports Injury Australia 2002–03, AIHW)

Most commonly reported sports injuries include:
• Fractures
• Open wounds
• Sprains
• Head injuries
• Dislocation