Factors affecting health outcomes studied
ECONOMIST Prof Mark McGillivray says much can be learned from identifying which developing countries ‘‘punch above their weight’’ in producing better health outcomes.
Prof McGillivray, a research professor in international development at Deakin University, near Melbourne, said yesterday there was a ‘‘large literature’’ examining links between economic growth and achievement in developing countries.
His research asked why some developing countries were ‘‘better at converting economic growth into better health’’.
He commented in the annual McAuley Oration, at the Dunedin Public Art Gal lery last night, and gave further details in an interview.
Life expectancy and and child mortality data had been used to identify which developing countries had better health incomes than was predicted by gross national income (GNI).
Vietnam was one of the world’s leaders in punching above its weight for life expectancy, with people living on average 11.7 years longer than predicted by the country’s income.
‘‘Vietnam has had a tremendously successful poverty reduction record,’’ he said.
The Vietnamese government had targeted not only rural poverty, but also the urban poor, he said.
Other strong performers were the Solomon Islands and Tonga, where life expectancy was, respectively 6.7 and 6.6 years longer than predicted by GNI alone.
The Solomon Islands, Vietnam, Tonga and Samoa, also performed strongly in child mortality, with respectively 66 deaths, 42, and 39 fewer child deaths per 1000 live births fewer than predicted by their income.
He was now starting to study factors that contributed to health performance that were stronger than overall income.
A clearly focused public health approach had clearly proved positive in Vietnam, but a host of factors were at work in various countries, which needed study, he said.
Prof McGillivray is a former chief economist of the Australian Agency for International Development, and his talk linked the Otago Global Health Institute’s 10th annual conference, which ended yesterday, with another associated conference, of the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases (ASID), which starts in Dunedin today.
During the second conference, the health challenges of antibioticresistant ‘‘superbugs’’ will be considered in a symposium today, at which Ministry of Health and other health and disease prevention representatives will try to develop a response plan for this ‘‘public health emergency’’.