What do the countries of Jordan, Guam, Cayman Islands, Israel, Puerto Rico, and Bosnia have in common? They all have longer life expectancies than the good ole' U.S. of A.
So do England, France, Italy, Australia, Canada, Japan, Switzerland, Sweden, Guernsey, Gibraltar, Monaco, Macau, Singapore, San Marino, and Hong Kong-- who round out the top 15 countries in the world in terms of life expectancy; and all of whom have some form of universal health care system.
Yes-- the world's richest country, and leader of the free world, for decades has been slipping in international rankings of life expectancy, as other countries improve health care, nutrition and lifestyles.
"Something's wrong here when one of the richest countries in the world, the one that spends the most on health care, is not able to keep up with other countries," said Dr. Christopher Murray, head of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.
A baby born in the United States in 2004 will live an average of 77.9 years. That life expectancy ranks 42nd, down from 11th two decades earlier, according to international numbers provided by the Census Bureau and domestic numbers from the National Center for Health Statistics.
According to Murray, improved access to health insurance would increase life expectancy. But, he predicted, the U.S. won't move up in the world rankings as long as the health care debate is limited to insurance. Says Murray, "The starting point is the recognition that the U.S. does not have the best health care system. There are still an awful lot of people who think it does."
Oh, and by the way-- if you haven't seen Michael Moore's new documentary, "Sicko"-- you should.
No comments:
Post a Comment