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AverageAustralian111 t1_jdi72xv wrote

Reply to comment by someguyonline00 in [OC] Number of physicians per 1000 residents by giteam

This is not a sound causality chain, US life expectancy is pulled way down by the mountain of drug overdoses they have among young people.

Life expectancy is the result of more factors than just healthcare quality, just because a country has a higher life expectancy, does not mean they have better healthcare and vis versa.

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pk10534 t1_jdjaxw4 wrote

Thank you omg. People seem to think life expectancy directly measured the efficacy of a country’s healthcare system, and while that’s certainly a part of it, it’s not the full story. Car crashes, fried foods that cause heart disease, overdoses, homicides, suicides, etc all play info life expectancy. You could have the best hospitals and doctors in the world, but if your citizens are constantly getting into car accidents or eating unhealthy diets their entire lives, it’s still going to drag down your life expectancy.

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mr_wetape t1_jdjpp3g wrote

Well, healthcare system is not just having doctors and hospitals, promoting better eating, campaigns to safe drug usage, mental health support preventing suicides and others are all part of a good healthcare system. You can have the best doctors and hospitals, but you also make them accessible and promote good habbits in your population.

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AverageAustralian111 t1_jdjyjil wrote

If you broaden the definition of "healthcare system," some of these things could be considered due to a bad healthcare system.

Suicide has almost no correlation with healthcare availability (or standard of living more broadly)

And it would be a gigantic stretch to say, blame motor vehicle deaths on the healthcare system.

What both of us are saying is that healthcare system is a factor in life expectancy, but you can't deduce from life expectancy how good a healthcare system is.

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CallMeAnanda t1_jdiah41 wrote

Why doesn’t Cuba have a drug problem?

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AverageAustralian111 t1_jdid5vq wrote

Most countries in the world don't have drug problems (on the scale of the US), the question you should be asking is "Why does the US have such an awful drug problem?"

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Affectionate_Song859 t1_jdihjjv wrote

Can't buy drugs if you don't have money

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Eric1491625 t1_jdl9it7 wrote

Drugs are actually cheap to produce though. They're only expensive in places that really try to ban them.

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AHippie347 t1_jdlpoke wrote

Than how come they have money for 8.42 medical personell per 1000 people?

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duncanmcewin t1_jdjfmv8 wrote

You could argue the large number of opioid drug overdoses in the US is largely due to failures in the healthcare system (overprescribing, lack of training / understanding around the function of opioids)

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AverageAustralian111 t1_jdjhzgi wrote

It definitely could be a component, but saying that "higher life expectancy means a better healthcare system" is a gross oversimplification to the point of uselessness.

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