That tends to support what I said.
the U.S., Japan, and France recorded the highest survival rates among 31 nations for four types of cancer.
.....
"Survival in the USA is high on a global scale but varies quite widely among individual states as well as between blacks and whites within the USA," he tells WebMD.
.....
The highest survival rates were found in the U.S. for breast and prostate cancer, in Japan for colon and rectal cancers in men, and in France for colon and rectal cancers in women, Coleman's team reports.
............
Survival rates were clearly tied to how much the countries spent on health. The US spent 13 percent of its GDP, while Europe spent about 10 percent.
tressugar.com
STUDY in a journal, the Lancet Oncology, compares cancer survival rates across five continents for the first time. After adjusting country data, from the 1990s, for differences in both age and death rates in the general population, Americans were found to have the best chance of survival for two of the five cancers that the reasearchers considered: breast cancer in women and prostate cancer. (Cuba had impressive survival rates, but these were probably over-estimated, say researchers). Europe lags behind America, with wide differences in survival rates, ranging from 10% for breast cancer to 34% for prostate cancer. Money appears to be an important factor: America spends a greater proportion of national income on health than the other countries.
economist.com
Cancer Survival Rates - USA! USA!
Take a look at the comparisons on this table:
lesjones.com
reason.com
Interesting comments here:
The Wine Commonsewer-Reg US Pat Off | August 21, 2007, 1:14pm | #
I admit this has been a long time ago...but I knew a woman who had a heart attack in London and when presented with the best of NHS chose to book a flight home to the good old US to be treated. This despite being advised that there was a very real risk of her death on the flight back.
Course George Harrison did the same thing looking for cancer treatment during the furor over Hillary Care.
[awwwww shadddup and go drink yer wine old man, this is the 21st century]
Syloson of Samos | August 21, 2007, 1:19pm | #
I'd be curious to see how much of the difference can be attributed to cultural factors.
UCrawford | August 21, 2007, 1:22pm | #
I remember when I was living in England a couple of years ago there was a rash of stories on the BBC about how people in northern England were basically forced to pull their own teeth since the NHS basically had a monoply on dentistry and had cut back on the numbers of dentists available for each region to save money (in some areas one NHS dentist was responsible for servicing 5 or 6 towns), so the people couldn't get appointments. The government finally opened up dental care to private industry after a big outcry...it's unsurprising that the private sector is offering better care.
Episiarch | August 21, 2007, 1:22pm | #
As an American who has been treated by the NHS, I can tell you that it is fucking horrible.
I had one NHS doctor say to me with a sneer "I don't know what your American doctor is going to do, but I wouldn't operate on your foot." This was a foot expert telling me he wouldn't fix my shattered heel (5 pieces) which would leave me a clubfoot and an inch or two shorter in one leg--essentially crippled. Mainly because foot operations can be dangerous if they become infected. I almost slugged him from my bed.
So I went home to NYC and had the guy who fixes the feet and ankles of the New York Giants fix my foot. My (gasp, horror) private insurance paid for it, and he did a wonderful job.
Fuck the NHS.
telegraph.co.uk |
