Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Global warming is likely to increase the spread of vector-borne infectious
diseases such as malaria, dengue, Ross River virus and Japanese encephalitis
to higher altitudes and wider latitudes, including to the Northern Territory
of Australia and North Queensland.
In regard to non-infectious diseases, Australia is one of the affluent coun-
tries with a rising epidemic of the so-called metabolic syndrome of obesity,
type 2 diabetes (incidence has doubled in 20 years), and associated cardiovas-
cular disorders. Paradoxically, this syndrome is commoner among Indigenous
than among non-Indigenous communities. Surveys have shown that physical
inactivity (from excessive use of television, computers and car travel) by our
sedentary population may be as much to blame as excessive consumption of
energy-rich well-advertised foods. The epidemic calls for radical educational
and lifestyle changes, particularly among the younger generation.
At the other end of life's spectrum, our therapeutic success at keeping
people alive well into their eighties has led to a rising incidence of chronic
disorders such as arthritis and various forms of dementia, including Alzhe-
imer's disease. It is now becoming recognised that half our medical resources
are devoted to people in the last year of life, producing an ongoing shortage
of hospital and nursing home beds. Medical practice in future must become
increasingly focused on improving the quality of life rather than simply
increasing its quantity. This raises profound ethical questions about whether
it is justifiable or humane to keep people alive against their wishes when the
prospect of quality living is close to zero. There is already some vigorous
debate about whether there is a right to die - which is no less persuasive than
the right to live - including the relative merits or demerits of passive versus
active voluntary euthanasia, given appropriate community safeguards.
With respect to other social indicators, some are improving such as edu-
cation and training. Overall, the proportion of people with a vocational or
higher education qualification continues to rise, though as with health,
Indigenous participation in education and training and their levels of attain-
ment remain well below that of the total population.
Unemployment has declined since the early 1990s but remains higher
than was common in the 1960s and 1970s. Once Australia was one of the
most egalitarian countries in the world thanks to a regulated labour market
assuring the average full-time worker minimum wages, sick leave and holi-
days. A minimum wage - for a male at least - was meant to support a spouse
and two children. But now almost half the workforce is employed in jobs
Search WWH ::




Custom Search