Ireland and UK top two health systems for efficient reduction in adult mortality. US near bottom of 19 countries studied.

Some surprises from the latest publication of Pr Colin Pritchard in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine comparing  health system results of 19 "Northern" countries. The authors examined the reduction in mortality results between two periods of time and created a ratio taking into account health expenses as a percent of GDP. 

The good news is that the study confirms the significant reduction of mortality for those between 15 and 74, the ages studied in this comparison of the period between 1979-1981 and 2003-2005, by the authors. 2005 is the most recent year for which data was available.

First position goes to Ireland, second to the UK, and third to New Zealand. France is 13th and the US trails near the end of the list, for the high cost of saving too few people.The article was immediately picked up by The Guardian, noting that if the UK is doing so well, reforms would be rather inappropriate. (A French  post is available here.)

The subject of the cost of health in France and internationally will be the theme of the next CHAM  conference taking place in Chamonix on Sept 30 2011. Hope to see some of you there. 

Here is the ranking of the number of deaths gained per million on 10 of the countries.

• Ireland 4941
• Australia 4328
• UK 3951, 
• Italy 3579
• Canada 2822
• France 2779, 
• Japan 2600 
• USA 2498, 
• Germany 2395
• Spain 1586

When we introduce the ratio of expense to gain, we get:

• Irleland 1:696
• UK 1:557
• Australia 1:521
• Italy 1:436
• Japan 1:380
• Canada 1:324 
• France 1:316
• Germany 1:247
• Spain 1:233
• USA 1:205

 

Here is the original article.  Téléchargement JRSMpaperPritWall