Comparing the health systems of different countries is a tricky business. Even if you look at countries in the same income bracket, there are plenty of factors, from demography to culture, that confuse the picture. But a new study of data from 19 prosperous nations draws one firm conclusion: despite being the top spender per head on health, the United States lags painfully, and increasingly, behind other wealthy countries in the overall performance of its medical system.
That harsh judgment is made by Ellen Nolte and Martin McKee, researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. They looked at deaths that should have been preventable by proper health care in people under the age of 75. These include deaths resulting from bacterial infections, treatable cancers, diabetes and surgical complications; over a fifth of male deaths and nearly a third of female deaths result from such causes.
They found that the group as a whole did well in tackling this problem: the decline in what they call “amenable mortality” averaged 16% across these countries from 1997 to 2003: the decline was 17% for men and 14% for women. But the news was not so good in the United States; it had the worst record of the countries studied. America cut “amenable” deaths by only 4% during that period; it fell to bottom of the table.
雙語環(huán)球新聞：美元都用到哪去了？
比較不同國家的衛(wèi)生體制是一件復(fù)雜的事。即使觀察處在相同收入等級的國家，也有眾多的因素如從人口分布到文化差異使情況變得復(fù)雜。但是，對來自于19個富裕國家的數(shù)據(jù)的一項(xiàng)新的研究得出了一個可靠的結(jié)論：盡管人均健康消費(fèi)排第一，美國在醫(yī)療體制的總體表現(xiàn)上越來越落后于其他富裕國家，這一點(diǎn)很悲哀。
這個無情的結(jié)論是由“倫敦衛(wèi)生和熱帶醫(yī)學(xué)學(xué)院”的艾倫·諾爾特和馬丁·麥凱基得出的。他們查閱了75歲以下人群中死于通過適當(dāng)?shù)尼t(yī)療保障本可避免死亡的病因。這些病因包括細(xì)菌感染、可醫(yī)治的癌癥、糖尿病和手術(shù)并發(fā)癥。超過1/5的男性死亡和差不多1/3的女性死亡出自這些原因。
他們發(fā)現(xiàn)這個組在對付這個問題上總體表現(xiàn)良好。這些國家從1997年到2003年“可預(yù)防的死亡率”平均下降16%，其中男性下降17%，女性下降14%。但是，對美國來說消息不是很好。在被研究的國家中，美國的記錄最差。在那段時間里，美國的“可預(yù)防”死亡只減少了4%，落到了表格的最底部。
That harsh judgment is made by Ellen Nolte and Martin McKee, researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. They looked at deaths that should have been preventable by proper health care in people under the age of 75. These include deaths resulting from bacterial infections, treatable cancers, diabetes and surgical complications; over a fifth of male deaths and nearly a third of female deaths result from such causes.
They found that the group as a whole did well in tackling this problem: the decline in what they call “amenable mortality” averaged 16% across these countries from 1997 to 2003: the decline was 17% for men and 14% for women. But the news was not so good in the United States; it had the worst record of the countries studied. America cut “amenable” deaths by only 4% during that period; it fell to bottom of the table.
雙語環(huán)球新聞：美元都用到哪去了？
比較不同國家的衛(wèi)生體制是一件復(fù)雜的事。即使觀察處在相同收入等級的國家，也有眾多的因素如從人口分布到文化差異使情況變得復(fù)雜。但是，對來自于19個富裕國家的數(shù)據(jù)的一項(xiàng)新的研究得出了一個可靠的結(jié)論：盡管人均健康消費(fèi)排第一，美國在醫(yī)療體制的總體表現(xiàn)上越來越落后于其他富裕國家，這一點(diǎn)很悲哀。
這個無情的結(jié)論是由“倫敦衛(wèi)生和熱帶醫(yī)學(xué)學(xué)院”的艾倫·諾爾特和馬丁·麥凱基得出的。他們查閱了75歲以下人群中死于通過適當(dāng)?shù)尼t(yī)療保障本可避免死亡的病因。這些病因包括細(xì)菌感染、可醫(yī)治的癌癥、糖尿病和手術(shù)并發(fā)癥。超過1/5的男性死亡和差不多1/3的女性死亡出自這些原因。
他們發(fā)現(xiàn)這個組在對付這個問題上總體表現(xiàn)良好。這些國家從1997年到2003年“可預(yù)防的死亡率”平均下降16%，其中男性下降17%，女性下降14%。但是，對美國來說消息不是很好。在被研究的國家中，美國的記錄最差。在那段時間里，美國的“可預(yù)防”死亡只減少了4%，落到了表格的最底部。