Relative

• But our fresh analysis shows what happens next can depend on how much money you have and where you live.
• Among middle-aged Australians cancer is the leading cause of death, accounting for 45% of all deaths among those aged 45 to 64 years.
• In an article just published in Health Economics, we examine the inequality in mortality (or death rates) across Australia.

Measuring death and status

• We used death registry data provided by the Australian Institute of Health and Wellbeing and Census data on SES.
• The new findings for middle-aged Australians stand out because inequality in mortality has been relatively stable over time and death rates are falling for most other age groups.
• Among young Australians aged 15–24 years we can see death rates falling and the SES gap in mortality shrinking due to greater declines in road deaths in poor areas.

Why the gap?

• Our research suggests different access to health care may have a role to play.
• This suggests the widening gap is because of smaller declines in deaths over time in our poorest regional and remote areas.
• Second, over the period from 2001 to 2018, the number of doctors per person is consistently greater in richer regions than poorer regions of Australia.
• However, access to new medications and treatments is often only available following consultations with primary physicians (such as GPs) or specialists.

More analysis needed

• But we need more comprehensive analysis of how various social determinants of health contribute to these inequalities.
• These could include social and environmental characteristics of local areas, health behaviours and cancer awareness, income or income inequality.
• Future research should examine whether the socioeconomic disparities in cancer death rates are also evident in cancer diagnoses.