Excess Deaths

Excess deaths are deaths occurring in disadvantaged populations that are due to the lower effective coverage of interventions compared to the least disadvantaged population in the country. In other words, the number of lives that could be saved by bringing the levels of intervention coverage in the disadvantaged populations to the same levels as the least disadvantaged in a given country. It is considered “excess” as these deaths could in principle be prevented by raising levels of coverage to levels that have been achieved already by some populations in the country. Another way of thinking about this is the price, in lives, of health inequities in a country.