More Health Stats

I've been looking around the World Health Organization (WHO) website and found some more interesting statistics.

28 countries have a lower maternal mortality rate than the US: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and the United Kingdom.

33 countries have a lower neonatal mortality rate: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Korea, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

36 countries have a lower child (under 5) mortality rate: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Korea, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

As I said in my reply to an earlier comment, many factors will affect these figures besides the quality of our health care system. However, given the wealth of the US, it does make one pause to wonder why the US fares so poorly in these data.

Source, 2005 World Health Report, World Health Organization (WHO)