World Health Organization Rankings
Have you ever wondered how our medical system stacks up against the medical
systems of other established and developing countries? We have been the
most powerful and the greatest country in the world for the last 100 years;
shouldn't our health care system be head and shoulders above the rest?
Let's start with the 2000 rankings of overall health systems.
1.France
2.Italy
3.San Marino
4.Andorra
5.Malta
6.Singapore
7.Spain
8.Oman
9.Austria
10.Japan
Where is the US you may ask? Way down in 37th place, behind countries like
Saudi Arabia, Columbia, Morocco and Costa Rica! 37 / 190 might not seem
bad, but when you consider what we pay for health care, the resources at
our finger tips, and us having the best medical schools and doctors in the
world, what gives? Why are 2nd and 3rd world countries ahead of us? Do
you also know that between 2000 and 2005 we spent a larger % of our GDP on
health care than any other country in the world except for the Marshall
Islands? We spend more than pretty much every country but are getting worse
results than countries like Morocco.
Other interesting statistics
-Preventable Deaths (or deaths caused by the health care system through
mistakes, etc.)--We rank 14 out of the 18 countries that were analyzed
(only industrialized countries)--not too good!
-Life Expectancy--24 out of 191, with a life expectancy of 70 years old.
We are spending 15% of our GDP to help people live to see 70. Japan
spends 8% of its GDP to help its citizens reach 75, and Japan is ranked
#1 in life expectancy.
-Overall Health of Citizens--We should be high on that list right?
Remember, we are spending more of our GDP on health care than any any
other country except the Marshall Islands. Try 72 out of 191!
-Health Care Expenditure Per Capita--1 out of 191. We are number 1 in
spending but only 72 in results. Who is ranked 75th? Iraq. But you may
expect that from them; they rank 117th on the money spent chart.
-Number of Physicians per 1000 People--Interestingly, we rank 23rd with 2
physicians per 1000 people. You might think that with the amount of
money we spend, we would have more doctors.
-Infant Mortality--44 out of 224. Countries better than us include Cuba,
Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore. It surprised me to find out that we
have worse rates in infant mortality than anybody. With the amount we
spend on health care, why are we losing babies?
-Finally, our education system is below average in every category (such
as ratio of teachers to students and graduation rates for primary and
secondary schools).
For some reason our health care system is failing its citizens. Yet people
still place an enormous amount of faith in the medical doctors. They are
taught from a young age not to question what the doctor tells them. Our
medical system comes with 2 options, take a pill or cut it out. We
prescribe more medicine than any other country in the world. We do more
surgeries (many unnecessary) than any other country in the world. While
some countries may decide that it is better to change patients diets or
intake natural herbs and supplements to lower blood pressure and
cholesterol, we start you on Rx medicines with known side effects. Then we
give you more medicine to counter those side effects. Then we operate to
counter those side effects. It is a never ending cycle that costs
insurance companies and taxpayers millions of dollars.
Imagine if we could reduce our health care costs to even 10% and convert
that extra 5% to our education system. That's 5% we could use to provide
teachers with more help in the classroom, more resources, more computers,
new books, etc.
Now what does this have to do with chiropractic?
Chiropractic adjustments not only relieve pain, but also remove nerve
interference in the spine to allow the body to become more healthy. In
general, people under regular specific chiropractic care are among the
healthiest in the world, enjoying less medication, hospitalizations, and
medical doctor visits. Also, an earlier newsletter I sent out showed that
seniors, who make up a majority of the % of our GDP spent on health care,
who were under chiropractic care, only spent 31% of the national average on
health care; saw their medical doctor 50% less; spent less time in nursing
homes and hospitals; and were on fewer Rx medications. So this to me seems
like a good way to not only bring up our low ranking in health care but to
also bring down the overall amount of money this country spends a year on
health care.
Further, back surgery is extremely costly and often avoidable. The average
cost for surgery to the spine runs from $5000-$25000, not including
medications, hospitalizations, physical therapy, loss of work, and lets not
forget the future problems that come from spinal surgery. All of this for a
less than 50% success rate or even worse a 29% success rate when operating
on Workman's Comp patients. Chiropractors have a very high success rate
when it comes to back pain; usually cost the patient pennies on the dollar;
have no side effects; don't use risky and addictive pain medications; and
most importantly don't "cut you open". Also it has been proven by medical
doctors that routine adjustments can lower blood pressure; get rid of
allergies; lower cholesterol; decrease GERDS and other digestive problems
(including Crohns and IBS); decrease the amount of pain pills the average
person takes; and prevent the flu, eliminating the need for flu shots.
Most importantly, however, chiropractic patients listen to their bodies and
make better informed decisions when they think about their overall health!
Read more by visiting these websites:
Country Rankings 2010
WHO Rankings