France best, U.S. worst in preventable death ranking

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Keep this article on file for the next republi-con who tells you we have a great health care system and Michael Moore is full of sh*t.



By Will Dunham Tue Jan 8, 12:21 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - France, Japan and Australia rated best and the United States worst in new rankings focusing on preventable deaths due to treatable conditions in 19 leading industrialized nations, researchers said on Tuesday.

If the U.S. health care system performed as well as those of those top three countries, there would be 101,000 fewer deaths in the United States per year, according to researchers writing in the journal Health Affairs.

Researchers Ellen Nolte and Martin McKee of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine tracked deaths that they deemed could have been prevented by access to timely and effective health care, and ranked nations on how they did.

They called such deaths an important way to gauge the performance of a country's health care system.

Nolte said the large number of Americans who lack any type of health insurance -- about 47 million people in a country of about 300 million, according to U.S. government estimates -- probably was a key factor in the poor showing of the United States compared to other industrialized nations in the study.

"I wouldn't say it (the last-place ranking) is a condemnation, because I think health care in the U.S. is pretty good if you have access. But if you don't, I think that's the main problem, isn't it?" Nolte said in a telephone interview.

In establishing their rankings, the researchers considered deaths before age 75 from numerous causes, including heart disease, stroke, certain cancers, diabetes, certain bacterial infections and complications of common surgical procedures.

Such deaths accounted for 23 percent of overall deaths in men and 32 percent of deaths in women, the researchers said.

France did best -- with 64.8 deaths deemed preventable by timely and effective health care per 100,000 people, in the study period of 2002 and 2003. Japan had 71.2 and Australia had 71.3 such deaths per 100,000 people. The United States had 109.7 such deaths per 100,000 people, the researchers said.

After the top three, Spain was fourth best, followed in order by Italy, Canada, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Greece, Austria, Germany, Finland, New Zealand, Denmark, Britain, Ireland and Portugal, with the United States last.

PREVIOUS RANKINGS

The researchers compared these rankings with rankings for the same 19 countries covering the period of 1997 and 1998. France and Japan also were first and second in those rankings, while the United States was 15th, meaning it fell four places in the latest rankings.

All the countries made progress in reducing preventable deaths from these earlier rankings, the researchers said. These types of deaths dropped by an average of 16 percent for the nations in the study, but the U.S. decline was only 4 percent.

The research was backed by the Commonwealth Fund, a private New York-based health policy foundation.

"It is startling to see the U.S. falling even farther behind on this crucial indicator of health system performance," Commonwealth Fund Senior Vice President Cathy Schoen said.

"The fact that other countries are reducing these preventable deaths more rapidly, yet spending far less, indicates that policy, goals and efforts to improve health systems make a difference," Schoen added in a statement.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080108/..._rankings_dc_1

Hey, it's the neocon version of "right to life."

[Spider]

but we got health care insurance

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by Spider

but we got health care insurance

[Bronco Bob]

Originally Posted by Spider

but we got health care insurance

All except the 40 some million who don't.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Originally Posted by Bronco Bob

All except the 40 some million who don't.

And for those who do, I ask (my own amended version of) Red Ink Ron's famous question:

Are you better off now than you were during the Clinton years?

Are your premiums, co-pays, drug costs, etc., less or more?

[FrontRowSeat1]

Amazing no data is shown....what were the other possible things that would contribute to these numbers other than this mythic group of uninsured people? Are they somehow across the board less healthy? When they get insurance will suddenly they become more healthy? Are they more prone to have health issues?

One wont know cause no one wants to address the issue of the uninsured and the lifestyle, eating, drinking, smoking behaviors or environmental issues related to lifestyles.

Bad data quoted often does not thus become good data.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Sounds like somebody didn't bother to read the article.

[W*GS]

The full article (not the MSM summary) can be found by going to the Commonwealth Fund website. Interesting reading.

Of course, lefties like LABF assure us that if the US health care system wasn't market-based, and patient health subservient to corporate greed, we'd be better off, but that's a strawman.

[Spider]

Originally Posted by Bronco Bob

All except the 40 some million who don't.

Those 40 mill, dont count ....... or so I am told

[baja]

Actually the US is not nearly that high when you look at overall health care.

http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html

[baja]

Not a pretty picture of quality of US health care.

Rank Country

1 France
2 Italy
3 San Marino
4 Andorra
5 Malta
6 Singapore
7 Spain
8 Oman
9 Austria
10 Japan
11 Norway
12 Portugal
13 Monaco
14 Greece
15 Iceland
16 Luxembourg
17 Netherlands
18 United Kingdom
19 Ireland
20 Switzerland
21 Belgium
22 Colombia
23 Sweden
24 Cyprus
25 Germany
26 Saudi Arabia
27 United Arab Emirates
28 Israel
29 Morocco
30 Canada
31 Finland
32 Australia
33 Chile
34 Denmark
35 Dominica
36 Costa Rica
37 United States of America
38 Slovenia
39 Cuba
40 Brunei
41 New Zealand
42 Bahrain
43 Croatia
44 Qatar
45 Kuwait
46 Barbados
47 Thailand
48 Czech Republic
49 Malaysia
50 Poland
51 Dominican Republic
52 Tunisia
53 Jamaica
54 Venezuela
55 Albania
56 Seychelles
57 Paraguay
58 South Korea
59 Senegal
60 Philippines
61 Mexico
62 Slovakia
63 Egypt
64 Kazakhstan
65 Uruguay
66 Hungary
67 Trinidad and Tobago
68 Saint Lucia
69 Belize
70 Turkey
71 Nicaragua
72 Belarus
73 Lithuania
74 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
75 Argentina
76 Sri Lanka
77 Estonia
78 Guatemala
79 Ukraine
80 Solomon Islands
81 Algeria
82 Palau
83 Jordan
84 Mauritius
85 Grenada
86 Antigua and Barbuda
87 Libya
88 Bangladesh
89 Macedonia
90 Bosnia-Herzegovina
91 Lebanon
92 Indonesia
93 Iran
94 Bahamas
95 Panama
96 Fiji
97 Benin
98 Nauru
99 Romania
100 Saint Kitts and Nevis
101 Moldova
102 Bulgaria
103 Iraq
104 Armenia
105 Latvia
106 Yugoslavia
107 Cook Islands
108 Syria
109 Azerbaijan
110 Suriname
111 Ecuador
112 India
113 Cape Verde
114 Georgia
115 El Salvador
116 Tonga
117 Uzbekistan
118 Comoros
119 Samoa
120 Yemen
121 Niue
122 Pakistan
123 Micronesia
124 Bhutan
125 Brazil
126 Bolivia
127 Vanuatu
128 Guyana
129 Peru
130 Russia
131 Honduras
132 Burkina Faso
133 Sao Tome and Principe
134 Sudan
135 Ghana
136 Tuvalu
137 Ivory Coast
138 Haiti
139 Gabon
140 Kenya
141 Marshall Islands
142 Kiribati
143 Burundi
144 China
145 Mongolia
146 Gambia
147 Maldives
148 Papua New Guinea
149 Uganda
150 Nepal
151 Kyrgystan
152 Togo
153 Turkmenistan
154 Tajikistan
155 Zimbabwe
156 Tanzania
157 Djibouti
158 Eritrea
159 Madagascar
160 Vietnam
161 Guinea
162 Mauritania
163 Mali
164 Cameroon
165 Laos
166 Congo
167 North Korea
168 Namibia
169 Botswana
170 Niger
171 Equatorial Guinea
172 Rwanda
173 Afghanistan
174 Cambodia
175 South Africa
176 Guinea-Bissau
177 Swaziland
178 Chad
179 Somalia
180 Ethiopia
181 Angola
182 Zambia
183 Lesotho
184 Mozambique
185 Malawi
186 Liberia
187 Nigeria

[baja]

We are only 2 spots ahead of Cuba for crying out loud.

Oh and ours is the most expensive in the world by a large margin.

[Crushaholic]

Another way you can look at this is that Americans like their fatty food (which leads to heart disease) more and exercise less than other countries.

[baja]

This is very true.

Big Pharm. & a corrupt FDA are the other 2/3 of the problem

[Bronco Bob]

Originally Posted by Crushaholic

Another way you can look at this is that Americans like their fatty food (which leads to heart disease) more and exercise less than other countries.

The French eat all kinds of fatty crap, and smoke too. It's the lack
of exercise that is killing people in this country.

[Dead Head]

Why does our country have the longest life expectancy on the planet then? Our people on the whole, live the longest.

[Dead Head]

Originally Posted by L.A. BRONCOS FAN

And for those who do, I ask (my own amended version of) Red Ink Ron's famous question:

Are you better off now than you were during the Clinton years?

Are your premiums, co-pays, drug costs, etc., less or more?

They are less of a percentage of my income, so yes.

[Bronco Bob]

Originally Posted by Dead Head

Why does our country have the longest life expectancy on the planet then? Our people on the whole, live the longest.

It doesn't. The life expectancy in the US ranks 38th.
Japan is #1, followed by Hong Kong, Iceland, Switzerland and Australia.
Where did you get the idea the US has the longest life expectancy?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ife_expectancy

[Dead Head]

http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=011001&tid=001


"Heatwaves: hidden disaster

22,000-35,000 people died due to Europe's heatwave. (World Health Organization, Earth Policy Institute)

14,800 people died in France. Death rates in Paris rose 130% above average. Those over 75 years accounted for 70% of deaths. (France's National Institute for Public Health Surveillance)

Heatwaves kill 1,500 Americans a year. The combined toll in the US from windstorms, earthquakes and floods is less than 200 (Eric Klinenberg, The Guardian, 20 August 2002)

In Australia, heatwaves caused more deaths than any other natural hazard during the 20th century. (Emergency Management Australia, Heatwave Action Guide, www.ema.gov.au)"



Since they stats were created from 1998 archival data, they neglect these perhaps preventable deaths. 14,000 in France alone. Most were elderly if I recall.

[Dead Head]

Originally Posted by Bronco Bob

It doesn't. The life expectancy in the US ranks 38th.
Japan is #1, followed by Hong Kong, Iceland, Switzerland and Australia.
Where did you get the idea the US has the longest life expectancy?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ife_expectancy

It was actually on the Today Show a few weeks ago. Our people live longer according to them. But looking at your data, it doesn't even really seem to matter. The difference between 38th and 1st is roughly 4 years. I wouldn't define that as significant at all.

[Bob]

Originally Posted by Bronco Bob

It doesn't. The life expectancy in the US ranks 38th.
Japan is #1, followed by Hong Kong, Iceland, Switzerland and Australia.
Where did you get the idea the US has the longest life expectancy?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ife_expectancy

True, but who wants to eat the crap they eat?

[Spider]

Finishing behind the french in anything sucks ..... They kick our ass in 2 areas ...healthcare and Nuclear Power ......

[Spider]

Originally Posted by Bob

True, but who wants to eat the crap they eat?

Godzilla attacked Japan all the time for 1 reason .. He knew if he ate Chinese he would be hungry again 2 hours later

[Bob]

What is the list based on? This list was created by the WHO (I believe) it is very heavily weighted by socialists who believe that 100% accessability is the end all -- never mind waiting in line, French co-pays or the band-aid one gets in Cuba after waiting for two weeks, that you can put over your brain tumor.

So dig deeper guys. Yes, it fits the America is bad theme, and the "we need change" theme but is not acurate of actual quality as Americans see it.

[Bob]

Originally Posted by Spider

Godzilla attacked Japan all the time for 1 reason .. He knew if he ate Chinese he would be hungry again 2 hours later

All those freaking rice cakes...