PSL: Capitalism is bad for your health

Study: US health poor compared to other countries

Health care profiteering and class divides were identified as key reasons for a poor health outlook in the United States, according to a recent report.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health commissioned an investigation by the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine into health care looking at where people in the U.S. fare in relation to the rest of the globe. In the 400-plus-page study, U.S. health care was compared to Canada, Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and nearly a dozen other countries. Researchers revealed the U.S. was at the bottom of the list of the countries surveyed in nine areas, including longevity, infant mortality, AIDS, drug abuse, obesity, heart disease and lung disease.

The report notes the weak U.S. showing was due to a lack of health care coverage and relative poverty in the country. Unlike many Western countries, the U.S. has no national health care system. The dominance of private health insurance companies, lack of public options when people become sick and the many unhealthy lifestyle choices marketed by big business are all factors.

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Source: Party for Socialism and Liberation