Os EUA são ainda a maior economia do mundo. Representam cerca de 25% do PIB mundial. Tal economia, gasta cerca de 17% na saúde dos seus habitantes (na sua componente pública e privada). Como se diz em inglês, what a huge ammount of money.
- A baby born in the United States in 2004 will live an average of 77.9 years. That life expectancy ranks 42nd.
- Andorra, a tiny country in the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain, had the longest life expectancy, at 83.5 years, according to the Census Bureau. It was followed by Japan, Macau, San Marino and Singapore.
- The shortest life expectancies were clustered in Sub-Saharan Africa, a region that has been hit hard by an epidemic of HIV and AIDS, as well as famine and civil strife. Swaziland has the shortest, at 34.1 years, followed by Zambia, Angola, Liberia and Zimbabwe.
Apesar de tudo, o facto da Suazilândia ter uma esperança média de vida de 34 anos, deixa-nos muito tristes.
Mas, vejamos a causa de tão fraco resultado dos EUA, quanto à sua esperança média de vida:
- Adults in the United States have one of the highest obesity rates in the world. Nearly a third of U.S. adults 20 years and older are obese, while about two-thirds are overweight.
- "The U.S. has the resources that allow people to get fat and lazy," said Paul Terry, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Emory University in Atlanta.
- Racial disparities. Black Americans have an average life expectancy of 73.3 years, five years shorter than white Americans.
Outro resultado dramático, para quem gasta tanto dinheiro em saúde:
- Forty countries, including Cuba, Taiwan and most of Europe had lower infant mortality rates than the U.S. in 2004. The U.S. rate was 6.8 deaths for every 1,000 live births. It was 13.7 for Black Americans, the same as Saudi Arabia.
Diz o Prof. Murray, da University of Washington: "The starting point is the recognition that the U.S. does not have the best health care system. There are still an awful lot of people who think it does."
