This report presents new information on trends and inequalities in cancer survival for 21 cancers diagnosed in New Zealand over a 13 year period, from 1991 to 2004.
These analyses are based on linking New Zealand Cancer Registry data, census records and mortality data.
The report finds that for all cancers and for both Māori and non-Māori, there was on average a 3% annual improvement in cancer survival. There was no observed widening of the gap between Māori and non-Māori although large gaps in cancer survival still persist between Māori and non-Māori for some cancers. Gaps in survival between high and low income groups were less marked than gaps by ethnicity across all cancers.
Purpose
The objective is to present trends in survival for 21 cancers in the adult population (aged 15–99 years) from 1991 to 2004, by:
- ethnic group (Māori compared to non-Māori)
- income group (patients in the lowest income group compared to patients in the highest income group)
and gaps in survival between:
- Māori and non-Māori, averaged over time and for any change over time
- low- and high-income groups, averaged over time and for any change over time.