November 07, 2004
A Dirty Little Secret
Inequality kills. Michael Marmot and others have been demonstrating this phenomenon for years, but somehow no politician seems prepared to recognise the science.
Now here's another little snippet for the politicians and policy makers to ignore:
'There isnt a single measure in which the U.S. excels in the health arena', says Dr. Stephen Bezruchka, a senior lecturer in the School of Public Health at the University of Washington in Seattle. 'We spend half of the worlds healthcare bill and we are less healthy than all the other rich countries.'
'Fifty-five years ago, we were one of the healthiest countries in the world', Bezruchka continues. 'What changed? We have increased the gap between rich and poor. Nothing determines the health of a population [more] than the gap between rich and poor'."
Posted by richard at November 7, 2004 08:53 PM