The aim of this study was to assess the impact of health care on ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in health amongst New Zealanders. The authors used the concept of “amenable” mortality to refer to deaths occurring between the ages of 0 and 74 years from causes that are responsive to health care. In comparison to New Zealanders of European ethnicity, excess mortality which was accounted for by amenable causes of death was 27% for Mäori males, 34% for Mäori females, 33% for Pacific males and 44% for Pacific females. For deprived vs non-deprived populations, amenable causes of death accounted for 26% of excess mortality in males and 30% in females. In conclusion the authors find that “amenable causes of death made a substantial contribution to differences in mortality in the 0-74 year age range between ethnic and socio-economic groups”.
