Health

Health is the biggest problem in this country at the moment. But I am going to try to understand it. So if you want to join me in trying to understand it. These are some of the things I am reading. Feel free to suggest anything. OECD Health Data 2005 How Does Ireland Compare France babelfish translation.

Eco-health OECD 2005 How France positions the expenditure of health and their financing the total expenditure of health represented in France 10.1% of the GDP in 2003, that is to say 1.5 points of percentage more than the average of the OECD countries (8.6%). The expenditure of health compared to the GDP in France remains however less low than in the United States (which records the highest level with 15%), in Switzerland, in Germany, in Iceland and Norway. France is also located above the average of the OECD countries in terms of total expenditure of health per capita, with expenditure of 2 903 USD (adjusted on the basis of purchasing power parity of the currencies) compared to an average of 2 307 USD for the whole of the OECD countries. There still, the expenditure of health per capita in France remains however well below the expenditure of health in the United States, which rises with 5 635 USD per capita. Between 1998 and 2003, the expenditure of health per capita in France, in realities term (i.e. except inflation), increased on average by 3.5% per year, a figure less low than the average of 4.5% observed in the OECD countries during this period. The public financing represents the principal source of financing of the expenditure of health in all OECD countries, except for the United States, of Mexico and Korea. In France, 76.3% of the expenditure of health are financed by public funds, a level higher than the average of the OECD countries (72.1%). Among the European countries, the share of the public financing of the expenditure of health is higher in France than in countries like Spain, Austria, Portugal and Switzerland, but weaker than in the majority of the Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Sweden and Norway). The resources of the sector of health (human, physical and technological) France counts 3.4 doctors per a thousand of inhabitants, a figure higher than the average of 2.9 in the OECD countries. In addition, France counts 7.3 nurses per a thousand of inhabitants, a number a little less low than the average of 8.2 in the countries of the OCDE1. In France, the number of hospital beds for acute care is of 3.8 beds per thousands of inhabitants in 2003, a number rather close to the average of the OECD countries. As in the majority of the other developed countries, the number of hospital beds available per capita fell during 20 last years. The reduction of the number of hospital beds in the majority of the OECD countries coincided with a reduction of the average duration of the stays at the hospital and an increase in the recourse to the surgery of day. The diffusion of modern medical technologies is one of the principal factors of the increase in the expenditure of health in the OECD countries. For example, the number of apparatuses of imagery by magnetic resonance (IRM) used to diagnose many diseases has more than quintuplet on average in the OECD countries since the beginning of the years 1990. Although the number of IRM and scanners CT also increased in France, their number per capita is less low there into 2003 than in the majority of the OECD countries. The country which lays out, and by far, of the greatest number of IRM and scanners CT per capita is Japan. France on the other hand holds the greatest number of apparatuses of mammography per capita among the whole of the OECD countries. The health of the population and the factors of risk the majority of the OECD countries recorded important profits of life expectancy to the birth during 40 last years. In France, the life expectancy to the birth increased 9.1 years between 1960 and 2003, which is close to the profits recorded on average in the OECD countries. In 2003, the life expectancy in France was 79.4 years, that is to say 1.6 years more than the average of the OECD countries. Japan records the most raised life expectancy, with 81.8 years, follow-up of Iceland, Spain, Switzerland and Australia with life expectancies 80 years and more into 20032. The proportion of adults stating to smoke daily decreased in the majority of the OECD countries during two last decades. In France however, this reduction was relatively weak, the proportion of adults who smoke daily passing from 30% in 1980 to 28.6% in 2002. Thus, the proportion of daily smokers in France, which was less low than the average of the OECD countries in 1980, is now higher than this average. Canada, the United States and Sweden provide examples of countries which reduced in a considerable way the prevalence of the nicotinism. They record into 2003 of the rates of less than 18% of the adult population which smokes daily. The alcohol consumption per capita decreased in the majority of the OECD countries during last decades. In France, the total alcohol consumption strongly fell since 1970, even if it remains definitely higher than the average of the OECD countries. The fall of consumption coincided with more strict measurements of control, in particular in the field of publicity. The problems of obesity increased considerably during two last decades, even if there are notable differences of prevalence of obesity in the adults according to countries'. In France, the rate of obesity among the adult population (9.4% in 2002) remains quite lower than the rates recorded in the majority of the other developed countries, although it is in increase. The highest rates of obesity are found in particular in the United States (30.6% in 2002), in the United Kingdom (23% in 2003) and in Australia (21.7% in 1999)3. The latency time between the appearance of obesity and the increase in the chronic diseases which are dependent there (like the diabetes and asthma) leaves think that the strong increase in the obese population in the majority of the OECD countries will have, in the future, of the considerable implications in terms of health and expenditure of health

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