Compared to the rest of NSW the people of Lightning Ridge are more likely to be unemployed, more likely to have left school at a younger age but less likely to be admitted to hospital, according to a new report on the health of remote communities in the region.
Health in the Murdi Paaki has been released by the Broken Hill Centre for Remote Health Research.
Authored by the centre's statistician, Cath Kennedy, it provides information about the population of the Murdi Paaki region and reports on illness, disease, disability and death.
According to the report the population of Lightning Ridge is 3343, 14 per cent of whom are Aboriginal.
The leading causes of death are circulatory diseases - relating to the heart and blood system - which account for 30.3 per cent of deaths.
The leading causes of illness are digestive diseases such as oral health issues (teeth and gums), hernias, irritable bowel syndrome and liver diseases, which account for 12.1 per cent of illness.
On average 791 Lightning Ridge residents are admitted to hospital each year, a rate significantly lower than Murdi Paaki and the rest of NSW.
In comparison Walgett has 1781 hospital admissions a year, even though they have 200 less residents than the Ridge.
Meanwhile Goodooga, with a population of only 303 had 129 admissions, representing more than one in three people.
Of course, when considering these figures several things must be kept in mind.
The first is that it is very difficult to get accurate population figures, particularly in Lightning Ridge where the official population is unknown and has been unofficially estimated to be as high as seven or eight thousand.
The second is that during the early part of the period dealt with in this report, Lightning Ridge did not have a fully functioning hospital service and many patients were sent to Walgett to be admitted.
Other statistics about the Walgett Shire in general that have been revealed by the report are:
o On average there are 61 deaths a year, which is comparable to the State figure.
o There are significantly fewer deaths due to circulatory disease (30.3 per cent compared to 40.8 per cent) and more deaths due to injury (12.7 per cent compared to 5.7 per cent).
o The most commonly diagnosed cancer is prostrate in males (22 per cent) and breast cancer in females (22 per cent).
o There are 16 deaths per year by cancer. The most common cause of cancer death is lung cancer in both males (30 per cent) and females (18 per cent).
o On average there are 62 babies born each year.
o 39 per cent of births are to Aboriginal women, who represent 26 per cent of the Walgett Shire female population aged 15 to 44.
o Compared to NSW there are more women aged 15 to 19 having babies and less women aged over 30 having babies.
The report's author, Cath Kennedy, says overall the health of Western NSW is improving, although it is still below par.
"Compared to previous years we are doing pretty well. Over the past 10 or 15 years we've been getting healthier and our health system has been getting more effective. However, when you compare it to the rest of NSW we're not doing so great. Western NSW is still majorly disadvantaged, but that's always been the case and it's just part of being rural."
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