Australian study finds child vaccine effect

Medicines Australia, the country's research-based drug industry group, has welcomed the broad findings of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's latest national report card on health. The biennial report, titled Australia's Health, describes the country as "one of the healthiest nations in the world," which is "taking great strides in many health areas." A particular source of satisfaction is the high rate of child immunization, which may also be the cause of another area of improvement, a reduction in the mortality gap between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous children.

The AIHW's director, Penny Allbon, said that Australia's status "at or near the top of world health had been achieved efficiently, with per-person health spending being in the middle of the health spending tables for developed nations."

The report was launched by Health Minister Nicola Roxon at a conference in Canberra, and highlights falling death rates for cancer, heart disease, strokes and injury. According to the data, Australians enjoy one of the highest life expectancies in the world - an average of 81.4 years, second only to Japan. The researchers state that this is partly due to a decline in smoking rates, which are now among the lowest in the world.