Gear
New member
To me this is pretty frightening and embarrasing... and it should be.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jul/17/internationalaidanddevelopment.usa
Despite spending $230m (£115m) an hour on healthcare, Americans live shorter lives than citizens of almost every other developed country. And while it has the second-highest income per head in the world, the United States ranks 42nd in terms of life expectancy.
The American Human Development Report [...] paints a surprising picture of a country that spends well over $5bn each day on healthcare - more per person than any other country.
As a result, the US is ranked 42nd in global life expectancy and 34th in terms of infants surviving to age one. The US infant mortality rate is on a par with that of Croatia, Cuba, Estonia and Poland. If the US could match top-ranked Sweden, about 20,000 more American babies a year would live to their first birthday.
The US has a higher percentage of children living in poverty than any of the world's richest countries.
It also reveals 14% of the population - some 40 million Americans - lack the literacy skills to perform simple, everyday tasks such as understanding newspaper articles and instruction manuals.
Well. What a wake up.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jul/17/internationalaidanddevelopment.usa
Despite spending $230m (£115m) an hour on healthcare, Americans live shorter lives than citizens of almost every other developed country. And while it has the second-highest income per head in the world, the United States ranks 42nd in terms of life expectancy.
The American Human Development Report [...] paints a surprising picture of a country that spends well over $5bn each day on healthcare - more per person than any other country.
As a result, the US is ranked 42nd in global life expectancy and 34th in terms of infants surviving to age one. The US infant mortality rate is on a par with that of Croatia, Cuba, Estonia and Poland. If the US could match top-ranked Sweden, about 20,000 more American babies a year would live to their first birthday.
The US has a higher percentage of children living in poverty than any of the world's richest countries.
It also reveals 14% of the population - some 40 million Americans - lack the literacy skills to perform simple, everyday tasks such as understanding newspaper articles and instruction manuals.
Well. What a wake up.