Dr Chris Stevenson presents ‘The burden of disease in Australia: What is it and how do we measure it?’, on Thursday, 6 September from 1pm to 2pm.
Dr Stevenson’s seminar will discuss the methodology and present the major results of the Australian Burden of Disease study, which was carried out jointly by the University of Queensland, School of Population Health and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
The study was a detailed analysis of the national disease burden for 175 diseases and injuries as well as a number of important risk factors. It used the methods of the Global Burden of Disease Study developed by Harvard University, the World Bank and WHO, adapted to the Australian context and the need for greater detail in addressing the most prevalent Australian health problems.
The seminar will discuss the concept of ‘burden of disease’ and the use of summary measures in population health – what are they and why do we need them – and give a non-technical introduction to Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), which are the basis of the burden of disease methods. Dr Stevenson will then present an overview of the 2003 estimates of burden of disease in Australia.
Dr Chris Stevenson is the head of the Functioning and Disability Unit at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
This seminar takes place in the Menzies Seminar Room, John Mathews Building, Royal Darwin Hospital Campus.
Visit the Menzies School of Health Research website for information about this and future seminars.