Poverty and child (0–14 years) mortality in the USA and other Western countries as an indicator of “how well a country meets the needs of its children” (UNICEF)
-
Colin Pritchard
and
Richard Williams
Abstract
Background: Children’s (0–14 years) mortality rates in the USA and 19 Western countries (WCs) were examined in the context of a nation-specific measure of relative poverty and the Gross Domestic Product Health Expenditure (GDPHE) of countries to compare the effectiveness and efficiency of health care systems “to meet the needs of its children” (UNICEF).
Method: World Health Organisation child mortality rates per million were analysed for 1979–1981 and 2003–2005 to determine any significant differences between the USA and the other WCs over these periods. Child mortality rates are correlated with all countries GDPHE and ‘relative poverty’, defined by ‘Income Inequalities’, i.e., the gap between top and bottom 20% of incomes.
Findings: Outputs: The mortality rate of every country fell substantially ranging from falls of 46% in the USA to 78% in Portugal. The highest current mortality rates are: USA, 2436 per million (pm), New Zealand 2105 pm, Portugal 1929 pm, Canada 1877 pm and the UK 1834 pm; the lowest are: Japan 1073 pm and Sweden 1075 pm, Finland 1193 pm and Norway 1200 pm. A total of 16 countries rates fell significantly more than the USA over these periods. Inputs: The USA had the greatest GDPHE and widest Income Inequality gap. There was no significant correlation between GDPHE and mortality but highly significant correlations with children’s deaths and income inequalities. The five widest income inequality countries had the six worst rates, the narrowest four had the lowest.
Conclusions: Despite major improvements in every WC, based upon financial inputs and child mortality outputs, the USA health care system appears the least efficient and effective in “meeting the needs of its children”.
©2011 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Editorial
- Alternative medicine does not exist, biomedicine does not exist, there is only evidence-based medicine
- Review Articles
- Vitamin D: a potential role in reducing suicide risk?
- Psychopharmacological treatment of ADHD symptoms in children with autism spectrum disorder
- Pubertal development and sexuality in female adolescents born preterm: a review of the literature
- The role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the pathophysiology of adolescent suicidal behavior
- Towards understanding the nurse/research interaction
- Original Articles
- A pilot study of a combined intervention for management of juvenile primary fibromyalgia symptoms in adolescents in an inpatient psychiatric unit
- Screening for psychiatric illness among students of the University of The West Indies, Trinidad
- Depression in adolescents with chronic medical illness
- I am smart, therefore I can: examining the relationship between IQ and self-efficacy across cultures
- Asthma and quality of life in adolescents in Manisa, Turkey
- Hirschsprung’s disease in the neurologically challenged child
- Positive youth development program targeting students with greater psychosocial needs: Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong
- Subjective outcome evaluation of the Project P.A.T.H.S.: findings based on different datasets
- Occupational, speech and emotional therapy with students attending booster classes
- Poverty and child (0–14 years) mortality in the USA and other Western countries as an indicator of “how well a country meets the needs of its children” (UNICEF)
- Students with visual impairments in Israel: quality of life as a subjective experience
- Influence of family structure on sexual behavior of Turkish female adolescents
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging of facial information processing in children with autistic disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and typically developing controls
- Racial trends in sugar-sweetened beverage consumption among US adolescents: 1988–2004
- Healthcare utilization for pain in children and adolescents: a prospective study of laboratory and non-laboratory predictors of care-seeking
- Attitudes toward depression among a sample of Muslim adolescents in the Midwestern United States
Articles in the same Issue
- Editorial
- Alternative medicine does not exist, biomedicine does not exist, there is only evidence-based medicine
- Review Articles
- Vitamin D: a potential role in reducing suicide risk?
- Psychopharmacological treatment of ADHD symptoms in children with autism spectrum disorder
- Pubertal development and sexuality in female adolescents born preterm: a review of the literature
- The role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the pathophysiology of adolescent suicidal behavior
- Towards understanding the nurse/research interaction
- Original Articles
- A pilot study of a combined intervention for management of juvenile primary fibromyalgia symptoms in adolescents in an inpatient psychiatric unit
- Screening for psychiatric illness among students of the University of The West Indies, Trinidad
- Depression in adolescents with chronic medical illness
- I am smart, therefore I can: examining the relationship between IQ and self-efficacy across cultures
- Asthma and quality of life in adolescents in Manisa, Turkey
- Hirschsprung’s disease in the neurologically challenged child
- Positive youth development program targeting students with greater psychosocial needs: Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong
- Subjective outcome evaluation of the Project P.A.T.H.S.: findings based on different datasets
- Occupational, speech and emotional therapy with students attending booster classes
- Poverty and child (0–14 years) mortality in the USA and other Western countries as an indicator of “how well a country meets the needs of its children” (UNICEF)
- Students with visual impairments in Israel: quality of life as a subjective experience
- Influence of family structure on sexual behavior of Turkish female adolescents
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging of facial information processing in children with autistic disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and typically developing controls
- Racial trends in sugar-sweetened beverage consumption among US adolescents: 1988–2004
- Healthcare utilization for pain in children and adolescents: a prospective study of laboratory and non-laboratory predictors of care-seeking
- Attitudes toward depression among a sample of Muslim adolescents in the Midwestern United States
