KEY POINTS:
The recent series in the Herald put the spotlight on New Zealand's health statistics, comparing them with the rest of the OECD, particularly Australia.
Overall, Australia's population is in better health than New Zealand's, as shown by the almost one-year difference in life expectancy.
Australia's per capita gross domestic product is about 25 per cent higher than ours. Just as wealthier people have more money to spend on their health and health services, wealthier countries do, too.
As for diet, ours is much heavier in fat. Australians each down 3kg of butter a year on average, compared with a whopping 8kg here. Our reported icecream consumption, at 27 litres per person each year, easily beats Australia's 17.8 litres.
Experts believe the differences in fat consumption alone could account for much of the difference in coronary heart disease mortality rates and perhaps half the total gap in life expectancy.
Getting a good return for the money we spend on health is important. One way to decide if a health system is efficient is to compare spending with health outcomes.
Countries with more efficient health systems are the ones that spend less on health than would be expected by their GDP figures and yet achieve higher life expectancy than would be predicted by their wealth.
Based on 2005 OECD data, New Zealand, along with Japan, Spain, Italy, Sweden and Australia are in this category.
The amount spent on administration is also important. Up to 30 per cent of US health spending goes on administration.
In New Zealand, this figure is around 10 per cent for district health board spending. The cost of operating the Ministry of Health was 1.7 per cent of the health budget in 2007.
What's important to me is that we have a healthcare system that delivers on the things that New Zealanders think are important. People care about being able to access safe and affordable health services.
The New York-based Commonwealth Fund has measured the performance of health systems in selected countries over the past 10 years.
The 2007 survey looked at the US, Britain, Canada, Germany, Australia, the Netherlands and New Zealand, and found New Zealand ranked well in access to care.
German, Dutch, and New Zealand patients were most likely to get an appointment the same day with Canadian and US patients the least likely.
New Zealand also ranks well (and better than Australia) for waiting times for non-emergency surgery. Importantly, the survey revealed that New Zealanders are the most satisfied with the quality of care they receive from their doctor.
Turning to the question of diet (and exercise), the health sector has a clear role to play in promoting healthy lifestyle choices like being more active and quitting smoking.
This is where the biggest gains can be made, but we must still maintain health services for those who need them now.
Do I think the New Zealand health system performs well? Yes, but I'm not complacent.
New Zealand's rates of childhood immunisation could be better. I also want to reduce admissions to hospitals for conditions that could be managed in local communities.
I congratulate the Herald for putting the spotlight on New Zealand's health statistics, especially our growing obesity problem. Keeping those statistics in mind, I'm reminded to go easy on the icecream this summer.
