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According to a report by the
National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, the United States spends
more per capita on healthcare than any other nation, but its people—including
those with health insurance, college educations, high income or healthful
habits—contract diseases, are injured, or die earlier than the inhabitants of
other high-income countries. The report notes that the health disadvantage
exists at all ages from birth to age 75, and even advantaged Americans appear
to be less healthy then their peers in other rich nations.
The report compared the United
States with 16 peer nations, including Australia, Canada, Japan, and many
western European countries. The United States was at or near the bottom in nine
key areas of health: infant mortality and low birth weight; injuries and
homicides; teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections; prevalence
of HIV and AIDS; drug-related deaths; obesity and diabetes; heart disease;
chronic lung disease; and disability. Many of the health conditions
disproportionately affect children and adolescents. The United States has had
the highest infant mortality rate of any high-income country for decades, and
it ranks low on premature birth and the proportion of children who live to age
5. Also, US adolescents have higher death rates from traffic accidents and
homicide, the highest rates of teenage pregnancy, and higher likelihood of
contracting STDs. Approximately two-thirds of the difference in life expectancy
between males in the United States and the other countries are because of
deaths before age 50.
The United States ranked higher than
the other countries in some areas: Americans older than 75 years live longer;
and Americans have lower death rates from stroke and cancer, better control of
blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and lower rates of smoking.
The report examines the role of
social values and public policy in determining why the United States is outdone
by its peers on both health outcomes and conditions that affect health, but the
results suggest that the health disadvantage is more than a reflection of the
serious health disadvantages among poor or uninsured people or ethnic and
racial minorities. When the analysis was limited to non-Hispanic whites and
people with high incomes and health insurance, nonsmokers or people who are not
obese, Americans still rated lower.
The report provides recommendations.
It suggests an intensified effort to pursue established national health
objectives, a comprehensive outreach campaign to share the findings with the
public and stimulate national discussion about its implications, and data
collection and research to better understand the factors responsible for the US
disadvantage and potential solutions, including lessons learned from other
countries.
The study was sponsored by the
National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Health and Human
Services.
The full report, “U.S. Health in
International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health,” was published by the
National Academies press and is available at http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13497.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
