Region's elderly numbers set to rise by nearly 80%

Wairarapa's elderly population is to balloon by almost 80 per cent in the next two decades, a new report says.
The 2008 Wairarapa Health Needs Assessment, published this week by the Wairarapa District Health Board, states the population aged over 65 years is expected to increase by 78 per cent by 2026, rising from 16 to 30 per cent of the total population.
The assessment also says the region had the highest suicide rates of all DHBs, largely due to the high number of suicides in 2003, when there were 13 cases.
However, Barry Taylor, who is helming a suicide prevention pilot scheme at the DHB, is confident updated statistics expected in November will see a change.
"We had a bad year that distorted figures and made us look like we had a high rate. Rates have actually been coming down in the past few years and that's made us optimistic about getting some good news."
The report also found suicide rates were higher for females than males and for non-Maori than Maori, which Mr Taylor said is still the case.
Figures for intentional self-harm incidents, used as an indicator of suicide attempts, put Wairarapa at fourth in the country in 2006, with 176 cases per 100,000 people.
Self-harm hospitalisation rates for Wairarapa Maori were "significantly higher" than the national Maori rate.
Females were also most likely to be hospitalised for intentional self-harm than males.
Elsewhere in the report, it was revealed that with the exception of Maori females, Wairarapa people have a slightly shorter life expectancy than the national average.
On average, Wairarapa females lived to the age of 82 while men lived to 77.
Between 1994 and 2004, the top three causes of mortality in the region were diseases of circulatory system (40 per cent), cancers (28 per cent) and diseases of the respiratory system (11 per cent).
In the same period, breast cancer accounted for one-third of cancer cases for Wairarapa people aged 25 to 44, followed by melanoma of the skin and neoplasm of the brain.
Breast cancer rates for that age group were also 13 per cent higher than the national average.
The top three causes of cancer deaths for adults aged over 65 were lung cancer (20 per cent), neoplasm of the colon (11 per cent) and neoplasm of the prostate (9 per cent).
A separate section on the health of Wairarapa Maori found Maori females had a slightly longer life expectancy those in the rest of the country.
Between 1994 and 2004, the leading causes of death for Maori aged 25 to 44 were car accidents and suicide, while Maori aged 65 and over died predominantly of circulatory system disease and cancer.