At the same time there were smaller absolute inequalities in amenable mortality within countries that devoted a greater share of GDP to healthcare.
Johan Mackenbach of Erasmus University Medical Centre and co-authors used country-level data on mortality by level of education for the period 1980-2010 to determine that mortality from conditions amenable to health care has declined strongly over time for women and men in all education groups.
For all amenable causes combined, including tuberculosis, asthma, appendicitis, and certain cancers, the estimated annual mortality decline was 3.5 per cent for highly educated men versus 2.2 per cent for men with lower education levels. The declines for women were 3.3 per cent and 2.1 per cent, respectively.
The data also indicated that an increase in the share of GDP devoted to health care was associated with a reduction of absolute inequalities in amenable mortality among men and women.
Writing in this month’s issue of Health Affairs , the authors conclude European healthcare systems were successful in reducing mortality from conditions amenable to healthcare among people at low education levels and say this supports the idea that healthcare can be an effective in reducing health and mortality inequalities.
http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/36/6/1110
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