Re: OT: Health care in other countries

James Arthur wrote:
Nobody wrote:
On Tue, 24 Feb 2009 01:09:31 +0000, Ross Herbert wrote:

:I was reading a book "My Descent into Death" where the author mentioned,
:in 1985, being in a hospital in Paris, France. He mentioned the nurses
:were not authorized to give him painkillers, and the sole doctor in the
:ER was going home for the weekend.
:
:My nephew today over lunch told me he heard on the radio recently about a
:French-American woman who had lumps on her breast, and the French doc
:wouldn't do a thing for her. She had to fly to America to get a proper
:diagnosis done and surgery performed, all the while suffering from pain.
:
:How is health insurance in Europe and elsewhere?
:
:Not looking for a flame war, just would like to know how it is elsewhere.
:
:Thanks,
:
:Michael


I find that hearsay evidence difficult to believe. France has had an
active breast cancer screening program since the early 90's and women can
have a mammography as easily as anywhere else in the western world. Up to
40,000 french women every year have partial or total mastectomy and I am
sure that early stage breast cancer would be appropriately treated with
radiation and chemo-therapy in cases not requiring radical surgery.

I'm similarly sceptical (or, more accurately, reminded of the saying that
"the plural of anecdote is not data").

A WHO survey from a few years back put France in first place for overall
provision of health care; surveys of life expectancy and infant mortality
invariably put France in or around the top ten. E.g.:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy

CIA World Factbook = 11th territory, 8th nation
UN = 10th

[US = 30th/45th and 38th respectively.]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_infant_mortality_rate

CIA = 6th (217th of 222, in decreasing order of infant mortality).
UN = 12th (184th of 195, ditto)

[US = 43rd and 33rd respectively.]

Now, there are a whole lot of other factors which can affect life
expectancy and infant mortality, aside from healthcare. OTOH, trying to
quantify "healthcare" is far from straightforward.


Infant mortality is a poor metric for comparison, since the different
countries calculate it differently. In particular, the U.S. includes
all births, while certain European and Asian nations exclude premature,
low birth weight babies, those with birth defects, stillborns, and
generally, babies judged 'non-viable.'

That impacts our life-expectancy as well--adding in a few zeroes
drags down the average.

A much better metric for comparing healthcare quality might
cancer survival.

Hmmm...here's some data, but the comparison still isn't clear
since the prevalent cancers are somewhat lifestyle related,
which might not be comparable country-to-country.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/561737

The bar graphs at the bottom of this page are interesting: money
doesn't seem vital:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6955545.stm


James Arthur
.

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  • Re: OT: Health care in other countries
    ... :in 1985, being in a hospital in Paris, France. ... :How is health insurance in Europe and elsewhere? ... active breast cancer screening program since the early 90's and women ... low birth weight babies, those with birth defects, stillborns, and ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: OT: Health care in other countries
    ... :mentioned, in 1985, being in a hospital in Paris, France. ... :French doc wouldn't do a thing for her. ... breast cancer would be appropriately treated with radiation and chemo-therapy in ... cases not requiring radical surgery. ...
    (sci.electronics.design)