Stuff Digital Edition

Virus claims old and poor

Hannah Martin hannah.martin@stuff.co.nz

New Zealand’s Covid-19 death toll is not equal: Poorer people, Māori and Pacific, those with underlying health conditions, unvaccinated and older Kiwis have a much higher risk of dying from the virus.

The findings were published by the Public Health Agency yesterday in an analysis of Covid-19-attributed deaths.

To date, more than 2000 people in Aotearoa have died from Covid-19: Either as a direct or contributing cause.

The analysis examined 1797 Covid-19 deaths between January 1 and August 26 which were attributed to the virus – that is, where it had been determined Covid-19 was related to the cause of death.

This equated to 34 in every 100,000 Kiwis having died due to Covid-19 during this time period.

The analysis – which excluded people who died with, but not because of, Covid – included 1458 people of European or ‘‘Other’’ ethnicity, 158 Māori, 111 Pacific people and 60 Asian people.

Age the biggest risk

It found the single strongest risk factor for death from Covid-19 was age: The older you are, the greater your risk.

Risk higher for Maori and Pasifika

Mortality risk was also strongly associated with ethnicity: Māori and Pacific peoples had more than twice the risk of death of European and ‘‘Other’’ groups (2 and 2.5 times, respectively).

This was more pronounced for under 60-year-olds: the risk of death was 3.7 and 2.9 times higher for Māori and Pacific peoples, respectively.

Looking at the whole population, the risk for Māori appears lower than for the rest of the population: A total of 158 deaths, or a risk of 19.7 per 100,000. This compares with a risk of 44.3 per 100,000 for European/ Other.

But when you compare this within age groups, the risk for Māori (who, along with Pacific peoples, are a younger population overall) was higher.

Of those aged 70 to 79, there were 43 deaths (a risk of 170.3 per 100,000 people) among Māori, and 264 (82.2 per 100,000) among ‘‘European/Other’’.

In those under 60, this risk was 3.4 per 100,000 Māori and 1.5 per 100,000 Pākehā/ Other.

Poorer people more likely to die

Deprivation also played a factor: The most deprived 20% of New Zealanders had three times the risk of Covid19 death than the least deprived 20%.

During the eight-month period, 429 Covid-attributed deaths occurred among the most deprived group, versus 153 in the most affluent 20%. Having one or more preexisting health condition was also a significant risk factor – associated with a 6.3 higher risk of death from Covid19 compared to someone with no underlying conditions.

This was particularly true for those under 60: Of 78 people under 60 who died of Covid-19 during this period, 72 (92%) had a pre-existing health condition. In young Māori and Pacific peoples, more than half their excess risk was due to having an underlying condition, compared with ‘‘European/ Other’’.

Vaccination made a difference

Vaccination made a substantial difference across all ethnicities, the analysis found.

Having two or more doses of a Covid-19 vaccine reduced the risk of death by 62%.

Public Health Agency Deputy DirectorGeneral Dr Andrew Old said the burden of Covid-19 had ‘‘fallen unevenly’’.

Some excess risk for Māori and Pacific could be explained by higher rates of socioeconomic deprivation, pre-existing conditions and lower vaccination, Old said. Experts have been ringing alarm bells about these inequities since the beginning of the pandemic, and iwi and Pasifika groups took testing and vaccination efforts into their own hands.

Inequities in vaccination alone accounted for about a quarter of the excess risk for Māori and Pacific peoples.

However, the analysis indicated Māori and Pasifika were still at a ‘‘significantly higher’’ risk of death from Covid-19.

‘‘Unfortunately, this does reflect broader longstanding health inequities for Māori and Pacific, with poorer health access and outcomes across many measures.’’

National News

en-nz

2022-10-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-10-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/281663963889424

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