Professor Tony Blakely and Professor Alistair Woodward
The fact we are living longer is well-known, as witnessed by discussions such as those around the retirement age and superannuation policy. But few are aware just how dramatic the changes in cause-specific mortality have been in the last century. We are publishing a book later this year (The Healthy Country? A History of Life and Death in New Zealand; AUP) that looks in depth at the fascinating story of mortality decline in New Zealand. The path to low mortality that this country followed was unique in many ways. For example, did you know that New Zealand (non-Māori) had the highest life expectancy in the world from 1870 to 1940? Or that life expectancy for Māori rose by 20 or more years between 1900 and 1950? To find out more, read the book! In this blog we whet your appetite by looking at some data just released by the Ministry of Health on trends since 1945 in cause-specific mortality.
Alistair Woodward and Tony Blakely are publishing a book The Healthy Country? A History of Life and Death in New Zealand in October this year. Here they blog about recent Ministry data on falling mortality rates
