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Some individuals have more than their fair share of health problems. This goes for groups of people too. As a first step in trying to make things fairer, it is important to measure the size of the differences in health and health care.

The Equity Explorer provides information on how health and health care varies between groups of people, and between district health board (DHB) areas of Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ).

Two types of group are compared: ethnic groups and groups based on socioeconomic status (deprivation).

The health conditions compared are diabetes, asthma and gout. For each condition, three indicators are presented.

The Equity Explorer information tells us things like this:

  • There are differences in health care between different ethnic groups, different socioeconomic groups and different DHB areas for many of the indicators we measured.
  • There are few differences in diabetes HbA1c blood testing.
  • Some differences are inequitable, for example, children’s hospital admissions for asthma. Rates were 1.5–3 times higher for Māori and Pacific children, and children from more deprived areas, in many DHB areas. 

Equity Explorer

Further information

atlas@hqsc.govt.nz

Further technical information, including confidence intervals, is available on request.

Additional resources

  • EPiC dashboard: Eight data themes and 29 data stories describing use of medicines by deprivation, ethnicity, gender and age in New Zealand, published by He Ako Hiringa. Data current to last three months. Updated quarterly. Practitioner, practice, and national data: https://epic.akohiringa.co.nz

References

  1. New Zealand Medical Association. Health Equity Position Statement. Wellington: New Zealand Medical Association. URL:

    https://assets-global.website-files.com/5e332a62c703f653182faf47/5e332a62c703f614c82fc548_Health-equity-2011.pdf  (accessed 16 May 2016).

  2. World Health Organization. Equity [webpage]. Geneva: World Health Organization. URL: https://www.who.int/health-topics/health-equity#tab=tab_1 (accessed 21 October 2015).
Last updated: 13th November, 2021