death rates
...ributed to homicides remained similar over the three five-year periods at around 11 deaths per year, with an average homicide rate of 1.1 per 100,000 children aged 1-4 years. Death rates from external causes as a whole were 39% higher for young boys than for young girls in 1982-86, and 60% higher in the 1992-96 period. For most external causes, the relative disadvantage in mortality for males increased over the reference period. Injuries and poisoning are a significant source of preventable illness, disability and mortality in Australia, and place a heavy burden on health services. Injuries (e.g. fractured bones, lacerations) and poisoning (e.g. drug overdose) result from events such as car crashes, falls, suicide or attempted suicide, and interpersonal violence. Such events, and factors involved in them, are known collectively as 'External causes' of injury and poisoning. "Injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes" was recorded as the principal diagnosis for more than 413,735 episodes of inpatient care in Australian hospitals during 1999-2000 (table 9.13). Falls are the most common external cause of injuries resulting in admission to a hospital. This is reflected in the draft National Injury Prevention Plan: Priorities for 2001 - 2003, which nominated falls among persons aged 65 years and older and falls among children under 15 years of age as two of four areas for priority action. The other areas are drowning and near drowning; and poisoning of infants and children less than 5 years of age. Although the number o...