Indicators of Inequality - Classification and selection of ethnic health disparity indicators

Indicators of Inequality - Classification and selection of ethnic health disparity indicators
Date of publication: June 2001

In 1999 the Government announced its Reducing Inequalities policy initiative. This initiative gives priority to reducing disparities in social and economic outcomes – including health outcomes – for disadvantaged New Zealanders. An intersectoral work programme has been put in place to ensure that measurable progress is made over the next three years to reduce these disparities.

The work programme includes three broad strategies:

public sector reform
capacity building
specific sector initiatives.

Running parallel to the Reducing Inequalities work programme is a significant programme of change within the health sector. This change is aimed at improving the health sector’s capacity to:

address the determinants of health
address disparities in health
implement comprehensive programmes.

The recently released New Zealand Health Strategy sets the platform for this change and identifies the Government’s priority areas. It identifies broad goals and more focused objectives, which encompass the social and economic determinants of health. Strategies to reduce socioeconomic and ethnic inequalities in health will be developed within this framework, based on full consultation with the affected communities and the district health boards.

Linkage between the Reducing Inequalities and New Zealand Health Strategy work programmes will be achieved partly through the development of a Mäori Health Strategy and a Pacific Health and Disability Action Plan. Both of these strategies will require a capability to measure and monitor ethnic inequalities in health.

This report, Indicators of Inequality, is intended to assist in the development of this capability by providing a classification for health indicators and criteria for their selection. The report should be read in conjunction with a more general review of ethnic health statistics, Monitoring Ethnic Inequalities in Health , published earlier this year by the Ministry of Health.

Comments on this report should be sent to Public Health Intelligence, Ministry of Health, PO Box 5013, Wellington.

Don Matheson
Deputy Director-General
Public Health Directorate

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Related information

Papers look at ways to measure ethnic health inequalities (27 June 2001)

Monitoring Ethnic Inequalities in Health

Public Health Intelligence homepage

Reducing Inequalities in Health (September 2002)