The 2021 Health and Independence Report provides an overview of the state of public health in Aotearoa New Zealand for the 2021 calendar year. To do this it comprises a range of up-to-date information about the population, the COVID-19 pandemic, and an extensive range of health measures. The data presented comes from a range of sources, including the New Zealand Health Survey and the National Collections. The report complements the Ministry’s Annual Report, which includes detailed information about the strategic direction of the health and disability system and measures of its performance and impact.
The Report highlights that health equity continues to be a challenge. Māori, Pacific peoples, disabled people, and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups generally experience worse health outcomes than other New Zealanders.
The 2021 report is divided into three sections:
- People of Aotearoa – population overview and population health measures, such as life expectancy, health expectancy, morbidity and mortality, and factors contributing to health loss.
- Impacts of COVID-19 – an overview of the COVID-19 pandemic in Aotearoa, including the pandemic response, vaccination programme, testing and case demographics for the 2021 calendar year.
- Health Measures – a wide range of health measures for 2021, including maternity, primary care, barriers to heath care, child oral health, immunisation, the RSV outbreak, cancer, long term conditions and hospitalisation rates.