No shame is wasted in these psuedo-journalistic reports as they make one irrelevant observation or false comparison after another in an attempt to minimize or explain away the glaring fact that, by nearly every conceivable measure, the health and longevity of US citizens is markedly worse than comparable societies.
For instance, AP says, "The U.S. ranking is driven partly by racial and income health care disparities. Among U.S. blacks, there are 9 deaths per 1,000 live births, closer to rates in developing nations than to those in the industrialized world." This implies that the problem is that we have too many poor and black people! It implies that if we could be a proper lily-white nation these discrepancies between the poor and the rich would evaporate. Pure bullshit, sure. But the powers-that-be are acting out this fantasy in places like San Francisco with its "redevelopment plans for Bay View-Hunter's Point" and New Orleans with its brazen ethnic cleansing in the wake of Katrina.
What they are avoiding is the inescapable conclusion that the amoral and frankly sociopathic system of unrestrained privatization and predatory capitalism existing here is very deadly for our people.
The ultimate problem with the mass media is that the people doing the analyzing and "reporting" (what is presented is rarely actual reporting) have careers, mortgages, tuition payments and other concerns about the future well being of their families to worry about. If they didn't have these rings in their noses they would be considered "unreliable" and unsuitable for the jobs they fill.
The failing health of the US population is not attributable directly to the scope of provision of health care or the quality of that health care. It is entirely a political problem that results from a system that specializes in concentrating wealth in as few hands as possible. It results from our national program to turn over as much power to gangsters as possible. It results from the dreams of empire that our ruling class is so fond of.
So let's not join the sophist servants of our ruling classes in calling for improvements in the health care system.
It is not that we don't need universal health care coverage, ethical drug marketing, better training for providers, and all the other causes that are being promoted by well-meaning people. It is that all these things are impossible under the current pathological political system and, conversely, would be a natural part of any system that incorporates a dedication to social justice, particularly social justice for the children and mothers amongst the poor.
It seems to me that a natural first step in saving our collective health would be to begin dismantling the system of legalized bribery that passes for a government in the US. If we could all be more like Maine and Vermont and demand public financing of elections we could begin to see real change very quickly. Let's just hope that we don't have to fight yet another fratricidal civil war to get there.
| | We're usually unable to forward readers'
emails, but both readers and authors are
invited to visit our 'dialogue' page
for two-way communication: |
| |
This is an archived Unknown News page. For newest material, visit our main page.
Previous articles by Dr Ruhs:
A plague of criminals
by Herb Ruhs, MD
On facing adversity with courage and good humor
by Herb Ruhs, MD
Bush's death toll will vastly exceed Hitler's
by Herb Ruhs, MD
An unemployed physician
by Herb Ruhs, MD
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
by Herb Ruhs, MD
Who "Them" are:
You can't tell
the players without a scorecard
by Herb Ruhs, MD
Global warming passes the point of no return
by Herb Ruhs, MD
In case you wondered why your doctor would sell you down the river
by Herb Ruhs, MD
Time to pull the rip cord
by Herb Ruhs, MD
Can the President legally
crush a child's testicles?
His lawyer says, "It depends ..."
by Herb Ruhs, MD, Unknown News
The great American misunderstanding
by Herb Ruhs, MD
When death is the proper penalty
by Herb Ruhs, MD
The revolution this time
by Herb Ruhs, MD
The good tidings and the bad
by Herb Ruhs, MD
Health care in America: An ongoing, massive con game
by Paul Krugman, The New York Times
with comments by Herb Ruhs, MD
Competition: Destroyer of character
by Herb Ruhs, MD
America without the myths
by Herb Ruhs, MD,
To dream the impossible dream
by Herb Ruhs, MD
Refusing to see the obvious
by Maureen Dowd, The New York Times
with comments by Herb Ruhs, MD
What can we do? Rhetorically speaking, that is.
by Herb Ruhs, MD
Banned in Cloverdale, by Herb Ruhs, MD
All of us are being fatally poisoned
by Herb Ruhs, MD
Daubert is the most influential Supreme Court ruling you've never heard of
by Herb Ruhs, MD
Enough already
by Herb Ruhs, MD
War is sometimes justified, often not, but always insane
by Herb Ruhs, MD
The bad news is the same as the good news
by Herb Ruhs, MD
Trying to control your emotions "can make you pretty stupid"
by Herb Ruhs, MD
The gangsters' mentality
by Herb Ruhs, MD
Nietzsche, New Orleans, and 'Nam
by Herb Ruhs, MD
Four decades in five minutes
by Herb Ruhs, MD
The masquerade of "civilization"
by Herb Ruhs, MD
Habits of successful modern cannibals
by Herb Ruhs, MD
Face these horrors with acceptance, equanimity, humor
by Herb Ruhs, MD
Yet another, higher dose of pain
by Herb Ruhs, MD
The war of one against all:
The roots of our enslavement
by Herb Ruhs, MD
Doctors, medicine, hospitals, and the rest of the story
by Herb Ruhs, MD
System of privilege expands in scope and overall power
by Herb Ruhs, MD
Highway robbery turns out to be legal after all
by Herb Ruhs, MD
Class warfare, anyone?
Why class war is not a fiction but a fixture of our lives
by Herb Ruhs, MD
Why the little-known news is the most important
by Herb Ruhs, MD
Why "Free Speech" does not matter
by Herb Ruhs, MD
Big pharma
by Herb Ruhs, MD
The genius fish and other comments
by Herb Ruhs, MD
When all else fails, try the truth
by Herb Ruhs, MD
Childhood abuse and the role it plays in maintaining coercive power
by Herb Ruhs, MD
Murder by medical device
by Herb Ruhs, MD
|
|
|
|
U.S. has second worst
newborn death rate
in modern world
Associated Press
May 9, 2006
America may be the world's superpower, but its survival rate for newborn babies ranks near the bottom among modern nations, better only than Latvia.
Among 33 industrialized nations, the United States is tied with Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovakia with a death rate of nearly 5 per 1,000 babies, according to a new report. Latvia's rate is 6 per 1,000.
"We are the wealthiest country in the world, but there are still pockets of our population who are not getting the health care they need," said Mary Beth Powers, a reproductive health adviser for the U.S.-based Save the Children, which compiled the rankings based on health data from countries and agencies worldwide.
The U.S. ranking is driven partly by racial and income health care disparities. Among U.S. blacks, there are 9 deaths per 1,000 live births, closer to rates in developing nations than to those in the industrialized world.
"Every time I see these kinds of statistics, I'm always amazed to see where the United States is because we are a country that prides itself on having such advanced medical care and developing new technology ... and new approaches to treating illness. But at the same time not everybody has access to those new technologies," said Dr. Mark Schuster, a Rand Co. researcher and pediatrician with the University of California, Los Angeles.
The Save the Children report, released Monday, comes just a week after publication of another report humbling to the American health care system. That study showed that white, middle-aged Americans are far less healthy than their peers in England, despite U.S. health care spending that is double that in England.
In the analysis of global infant mortality, Japan had the lowest newborn death rate, 1.8 per 1,000 and four countries tied for second place with 2 per 1,000 -- the Czech Republic, Finland, Iceland and Norway.
Still, it's the impoverished nations that feel the full brunt of infant mortality, since they account for 99% of the 4 million annual deaths of babies in their first month. Only about 16,000 of those are in the United States, according to Save the Children.
The highest rates globally were in Africa and South Asia. With a newborn death rate of 65 out of 1,000 live births, Liberia ranked the worst.
In the United States, researchers noted that the population is more racially and economically diverse than many other industrialized countries, making it more challenging to provide culturally appropriate health care.
About half a million U.S. babies are born prematurely each year, data show. African-American babies are twice as likely as white infants to be premature, to have a low birth weight, and to die at birth, according to Save the Children.
The researchers also said lack of national health insurance and short maternity leaves likely contribute to the poor U.S. rankings. Those factors can lead to poor health care before and during pregnancy, increasing risks for premature births and low birth weight, which are the leading causes of newborn death in industrialized countries. Infections are the main culprit in developing nations, the report said.
Other possible factors in the U.S. include teen pregnancies and obesity rates, which both disproportionately affect African-American women and also increase risk for premature births and low birth weights.
In past reports by Save the Children -- released ahead of Mother's Day -- U.S. mothers' well-being has consistently ranked far ahead of those in developing countries but poorly among industrialized nations. This year the United States tied for last place with the United Kingdom on indicators including mortality risks and contraception use.
While the gaps for infants and mothers contrast sharply with the nation's image as a world leader, Emory University health policy expert Kenneth Thorpe said the numbers are not surprising.
"Our health care system focuses on providing high-tech services for complicated cases. We do this very well," Thorpe said. "What we do not do is provide basic primary and preventive health care services. We do not pay for these services, and do not have a delivery system that is designed to provide either primary prevention, or adequately treat patients with chronic diseases."
As originally published
© by the author.
|
|
|
