newzealand

toc **__Disease and Health: New Zealand__**

Brief information about New Zealand
Population: Approximately 4 million Where: Situated about 2,000 kilometres southeast of Australia across the Tasman Sea Neighboring countries: Australia, the Pacific Island of Caledonia Language: English Capital City: Wellington(third most populous urban city in New Zealand) GDP-per capita (PPP): $28,000

**__Life Expectancy & Infant Mortality__**
We can see from **Fig. 1** that New Zealand has a high life expectancy of 80 years. This is fairly close to the surrounding countries such as Australia which has a life expectancy of 82 years. This is far above the world average 67.2 years, and the life expectancy of areas around Central African Republic which only have 47 years. New Zealand's Infant mortality rate (the rate per 1,000 births) is 4.9. This is exactly the same to its neighboring country Australia. However this is still alot less than the world average which is 49.4 (per 1000) and countries such as Afghanistan, has a high IMR of 165.
 * Fig. 1**

Current Infant Mortality rate: 4.9(per 1,000)
 * Infant Mortality**
 * Fig.2**


 * Fig.3**
 * Trend:** In 1862, New Zealand's Infant Mortality rate of 81(per 1000). There were some differences between each year e.g in 1864 the IMR rose to 120 (per 1,000). However the rate deceased over time, as we can see in 1898 the rate went back to 80(per 1,000). Then at the start of the 1900s, the IMR decreased faster than before. From approximately 1940, the IMR decreased even more rapidly, and steadily. In 2008, New Zealands's IMR was 4.9(per 1,000).

Life Expectancy for Men: 78.4 years (2009) Current Life Expectancy for Women: 82.4 years (2009)
 * Life Expectancy:**
 * Different Genders:**
 * Fig.4**
 * http://www.sacmeq.org/statplanet/StatPlanet.html**
 * Trend:** New Zealand had a life expectancy of approximately 70 years in 1990. It had a steady increase from 1990 to 2000, from 70 to 73 years. From 2000 to 2006, the increase slowed down, and had only gained 1 year, so in 2006 New Zealand had a life expectancy of 74 years.

**Leading Causes of Death**

 * Disease || Number of total deaths by disease || % of total Deaths || **Causes** ||
 * Coronary Heart Disease || 6,185 || 25.81 || Degenerative ||
 * Stroke || 2,666 || 11.31 || Degenerative ||
 * Lung Disease || 1,658 || 6.92 || Degenerative ||
 * Lung Cancers || 1,450 || 6.05 || Degenerative ||
 * Colon-Rectum Cancers || 1,200 || 5.01 || Degenerative ||
 * Alzheimers/Dementia || 1,055 || 4.40 || Degenerative ||
 * Diabetes Mellitus || 838 || 3.50 || Nutrition ||
 * Breast Cancer || 694 || 2.90 || Degenerative ||
 * Prostate Cancer || 608 || 2.54 || Degenerative ||
 * Lymphomas || 554 || 2.31 || Degenerative ||
 * Suicide || 511 || 2.13 || other ||
 * Influenza & Pneumonia || 430 || 1.79 || Water borne/Vector borne ||
 * Skin Cancers || 430 || 1.79 || Nutrition, Degenerate ||
 * Road Traffic Accidents || 473 || 1.97 || Accidental ||
 * Pancreas Cancer || 302 || 1.26 || Degenerative ||

** Health of New Zealand **
New Zealand has a high life expectancy compared to other areas in the world such as the Central African Republic which only has 47 years of LE. Although countries like Australia and Iceland has higher life expectancy(82 years)than New Zealand, it is still far above the world average. New Zealand has a loew Infant Mortality rate compared to areas such as Afghanistan which has a IMR of 165(per 1,000). Countries such as Iceland and Japan has a lower IMR than New Zealand, but they are very close, and it is alot less than the World average. The top five main diseases in New Zealand are Coronary heart disease, Stroke, Lung disease, Lung Cancer, Colon-Rectum Cancers. These listed five are all degenerative diseases. Also in the chart above, 11/15 of the diseases are all degenerative, and this fits very well with the characteristic of a developed country. The chart above proves that only a tiny part of diseases are water/vector borne, and it is mostly degenerative diseases. This shows that the causes for health problems are not because of the lack of medical treatment, no access to safe drinking water, or lack of supplies and equipment etc. It is mainly their lifestyle. The pressure people face, the amount of food, and what kind of food they eat, and the frequency of excercises. It is possible that people living in New Zealand face more pressure than people living in developing countries. These pressure might come from school, work, family etc. Which might then lead to smoking, drinking, which are extremely harmful to our body. The food they eat, and the amount of excercises also effects their health because New Zealand is a developed country, so most people do not face extreme starvation. In fact, some people are provided with too much food, and with the lack of excersice it might lead to obesity or other damages for your body. Some ways to solve or reduce the deaths of diseases could be eating the right amount of food, quit smoking and drinking so that your health would have a lower risk of getting damaged.