KEY POINTS:
New Zealand and Australia had the best immediate survival rates for heart attacks when treated, an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) report has found.
However New Zealand did not do well in some other areas, such as asthma, breast cancer and stroke deaths.
The report found death rates from heart attacks had plummeted for people who got to hospitals, but many countries still had trouble treating and preventing chronic diseases.
The OECD compared various measures of health care across its 30 members and found large variations.
In New Zealand and Australia, only 5 to 6 per cent of people admitted for a heart attack died in hospital within 30 days, but in Mexico 60 per cent of those hospitalised for heart attacks died.
Health Minister David Cunliffe praised New Zealand health workers.
He said New Zealand also rated above average in survival rates for cervical cancer and bowel cancer.
It was just above average for eye checks and diabetes patients.
However avoidable hospital admissions and deaths from asthma, hospital deaths from strokes, and breast cancer survival rates were below the OECD average.
- NZPA
