European Community Atlas of Avoidable Death

The first volume of the second edition of the EC atlas of "Avoidable Death" was published in 1991. It described mortality from 17 conditions in 12 EC countries over the period 1980-1984, and compared rates with the period covered by edition 1, 1974-1978. This second volume describes mortality in 1980-1984 for a further 8 conditions from which death should be avoidable given appropriate and timely medical intervention. This extension of the number of conditions studied, of which half are cancers, increases the number of indicators of quality of health care. They are applicable both nationaly and internationally. The new conditions chosen are relevant to all the EC member countries and reflect important aspects of health care provision. The atlas illustrates variation in mortality rates, but due to the complexity of the possible factors involved, no attempt has been made to interpret the patterns apparent or to draw conclusions.
It is hoped that this second volume of the atlas, individually or together with the first, will provide a comprehensive statistical provile of health service delivery that will stimulate countries to initiate detailed enquiries into the functioning of health services. Future collaboration between health services researchers is hoped for. As more diseases become curable or preventable, so the reasons for differing efficiency can be highlighted so that the better systems may be emulated.