Layte, Richard (2010) A GOOD NEWS STORY ABOUT IRISH HEALTH CARE. ESRI Research Bulletin 2010/4/1. UNSPECIFIED.
Abstract
Life expectancy for older people in Ireland has been increasing steadily since the 1980s. Despite this, Irish life expectancies for the over 65s lagged seriously behind the EU average as recently as the mid 1990s. But Irish death rates for the over 65s dropped dramatically between 2000 and 2005, moving Ireland closer to the European average. Whereas between 1996 and 1999 death rates (from all causes) in Ireland had fallen by just over 5%, between 2000 and 2004 the decrease was over 26%. What lies behind this rare and welcome good news story? An article** by researchers from the ESRI and the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at Trinity College Dublin sets out the background to this sharp fall in death rates, and examines how the greater use of effective drug therapies contributed to this result.
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