It seems as though everyday one can find an article on the internet or some news service web site that speaks con brio about the advances in medicine against cancer, chronic disease, etcetera. Popular media regularly extols physicians and the country's health care network as conquering heroes, rivaled only by the likes of Charlemagne and Julius Caesar. In truth, the coverage afforded to the world of health and medicine is often very vague and generalized--neatly packaged for consumption by the average American who wants to be wooed by success and who desperately wants to believe that irrespective of lifestyle choices, treatment options will always be there. Doc can fix it. There's probably a drug for that. Very rarely are the contradictions explored. Even more infrequently, are those contradictions examined, questioned and ultimately addressed.
Please consider this contradiction: the United States is the only developed nation in which the maternal death rate is steadily increasing. (Maternal death rate is defined as the number of registered maternal deaths due to birth or pregnancy-related complications per 100,000 registered live births.) In fact, the Nation's maternal death rate has doubled in the past 25 years. American women are still dying (and at higher rates than the previous generation) of hemorrhage and amniotic fluid emboli. In 2013, the US maternal death rate was 28 deaths for every 100,000 live births. Many readers may feel unimpressed or fail to grasp the sense of urgency this rate conveys. Without any context, admittedly, the numbers may fail to impress.
Now please allow for some context: the US and Uzbekistan share the same maternal mortality rate, 28 deaths for every 100,000 live births. Romania and Albania fare slightly better at 27 deaths for every 100,000 live births. Our neighbors to the north, Canada, are able to boast of only 12 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births. The UK also has a rate of 12 deaths/100,000 live births. Norway and Germany can both claim rates as low as 7 deaths/100,000; while Belarus and Italy each have roughly 4 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births. These numbers are not put forth to ridicule, demean or diminish any country; rather these figures are submitted to draw a stark and frightening contrast.
Uzbekistan, Albania and Romania three countries with very similar maternal mortality rates to the US, spend $306, $506 and $982 per capita, respectively, on health care. The United States spends $8,845 per capita on health care. Now superimpose this comparison onto the country's current election cycle and the Republican promise to systematically defund Planned Parenthood.
Where are the physicians? Where is the American Medical Association (AMA)? Where is the American Osteopathic Association (AOA)? The women represented by the numbers provided above are their patients.
With all of this country's wealth, why are we unable to put the pieces together in a way that makes sense?
(please reference: worldbank.org, the Henry J Kaiser Family Foundation, cdc.gov, odh.ohio.gov, medicinenet.com)
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