Socioeconomic differentials in life expectancy and years of life lost in Victoria,1992-1996

Abstract

While the public has growing expectations of health services, and the repertoire of health services to respond to these demands is expanding, governments are under pressure to justify their allocation of health resources. Expressed intentions to base decision-making on health outcomes will remain rhetoric, however, unless adequate tools to measure health outcomes are used. In response to this need for comparable information on health outcomes, the Public Health Division of the Department of Human Services in Victoria has undertaken a body of work to assist decision-making on health resource allocation in Victoria.