Hardly a "Ray of Sunshine", more like a "Dark thunder storm cloud", but I posted it here because it relates to Australia and the Australian Lifestyle.
There are worst things out there than Covid-19, at least for Australians. They are, Australian Healthcare and the Australian Governments (Federal and State, labor and liberal). They are more likely to kill you, before Covid-19 does.
As for the Australia's leading causes of death, 2019, the key statistics, indicate that the two top killers are
1.Ischaemic heart disease was the leading cause of death, accounting for 10.8% of all deaths
2.Dementia overtook lung cancer as the 2nd leading cause of death for males
Also interesting is how many people still died from Influenza and Pneumonia in 2019, before Covid-19, and even though we supposedly have the medicine and treatment to manage both Influenza and Pneumonia (I am not a Doctor). Still some 4,124 people succumbed to effect of Influenza and or Pneumonia in 2019, vs the 909 No deaths that have been attributed to the effects of Covid-19 over the past 12 months.
I do realize that this is a simplistic comparison of several numbers, but I don't have any build up (age, etc.) as to what really factored into the 4,124 Deaths from Influenza and Pneumonia. Also interesting is that 3,903 died from disease of the urinary system and even 2,177 for hypertensive diseases, again more than the Covid-19 effect. I am sure that when they publish the statistics for 2020-2021, for the leading causes of deaths in Australia, that deaths from Covid-19 will Rank at No 25 - 30.
Numbers and Percentages, of causes of death for 2019
There were 169,301 registered and received deaths in Australia in 2019, an increase of 6.8% (10,808) from 2018.
1.52.2% of deaths were male (88,346) and 47.8% of deaths were female (80,955).
2.The median age at death was 81.7 years (78.8 for males, 84.8 for females).
The top five leading causes that account for more than 1/3 of all registered deaths, for 2019, were as follows,
1. Ischaemic heart disease.
2.Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease was the second leading cause of death and had the highest median age at death at 89.1 (equal with cardiac arrhythmias).
3.Cerebrovascular diseases, Cancer of the trachea, bronchus and lung and Chronic lower respiratory diseases round out the top five leading causes.
4.Influenza and pneumonia was the 9th leading cause. Influenza deaths are linked to the severity of flu seasons which can drive changes in ranking each year.
5.Intentional self-harm was the 13th leading cause of death, with the lowest median age at death at 43.9.
Sorry for being so morbid
I will just digress a bit onto another related subject, "Healthcare for the Australian Elderly & Sick",
It would be nice to think that, what ($$$) the Australian Government has spent on fighting Covid-19 and what they have also allocated to other wasteful Programmes, during 2019 (of which their are a number), could have been better spent on protecting the Australian population, arguably by preventing some of these other causes of deaths and also to actually take better care of the Australian elderly & sick, population.
Maybe the Australian Government (from either side of the spectrum) could start by allocating Funds and a well targeted National Free Health campaign, to eradicate these other causes of death from the Australian population society and ensure their elderly were properly cared for, before they embarked on their donation sprees of the Australian Taxpayers funds, to overseas Aid programs, overseas Charities and Organizations, such as the UNFCCC.
The Government of the Day should be obliged allocate All available funding from the Taxpayer revenue, towards, Healthcare Progarmmes for the Australian population as a whole and especially for those within the Australian population who are most at risk (both the sick and the old), given that many of these people are the one who have already paid their taxes, over the many years. Sadly the Government does not prioritize Funding for their own people and you have to ask why not?
The Australian elderly, should be entitled to live out their life in a high quality nursing home facility, with care or treatment facility in a dignified manner, regardless of whether that individual is wealthy of not and regardless of whether he or she has the funds to pay for it. It should be a given and not a burden on the individual or their families.
AUSTRALIAN BUDGET:
In the 2020 Australian Budget the The Australia's Official Development Assistance (ODA) has allocated AU $4 billion in 2020–21 for overseas aid etc.
LINK:
https://www.devex.com/news/the-winners- ... dget-98255
In the 2020 Australian Budget, the Government says it will fund 23,000 new packages for older Australians waiting to receive at-home care, at a cost of $1.6bn. How generous of them
Why not spend the whole 6.0 Billion on the Australian population and elderly at a time when the Australian sick and elderly population, are at a greater risk of dying from Covid-19 and also from other contributing causes, and tell the UNFCCC, WHO and other useless World Organizations, to "Go F Themselves" for at least the next 12 months.
Personally, I just do not see the Australian Governments of the Day, doing all that they should, to take care of their own people. But as individual Government Members they do a lot to take care of them selves.
Just my 2 cents worth.
pipoz4444