In the past few days, I have posted two blogs on the United States’ shameful health-care system.
On Sept. 1, I posted a blog entitled “We’re No. 37!” that reported that the World Health Organization rated our health-care system the 37th best in the world and the MOST expensive. The blog provided a link to a Business Insider article that detailed the 36 systems that are better than ours, including Chile and Costa Rica (France is No. 1).
On Sept. 4, I posted a blog entitled “Harry Truman Told The Truth” that documented how our 33rd president felt about our employer-based health insurance system. He hated it and said “the health of American children, like their education, should be recognized as a definite public responsibility” and proposed an Economic Bill of Rights that included health security for all Americans.”
This blog focuses on how poorly we are faring in regards to meeting what Truman called the “public responsibility” of taking care of our children’s health.
According to the report “U.S. Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health,” which was completed by the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine, and a summary of a report in The Atlantic magazine the USA has:
* The highest rate of mortality in children younger than 5 years old in the 17 nations that the report studied. The 16 nations that take care of their children better than we do are Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
* The highest infant mortality rate among the 17 nations as well as low rankings in birth weight and premature births.
* The highest rate of child poverty in the 17 nations as well as a very low ranking in the percentage of children who will improve their socioeconomic position during their lives. Perhaps, the 21st century Oliver Twist is living in the USA, not the United Kingdom.
* The highest rate of obesity among the 17 nations. The report explicitly says that American children have high obesity rates, but doesn’t say where our children rank in obesity among the 17 nations.
* The highest rate of adolescent deaths in auto accidents. The USA has been No. 1 in this category since the 1950s.
Our poor care of children begins before birth because the USA also ranks worst among the 17 nations in the percentage of women who die “due to complications of pregnancy and childbirth.” The USA’s maternal death rate is nearly three times worse than 16th-ranked Denmark.
Later this week, I will examine other factoids in the “Shorter Lives, Poorer Health” report. There IS some good news, particularly when it comes to drinking and smoking.
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