[August 21, 2007 @ 1:32 pm] David Catron

According to “the most comprehensive analysis of the issue yet produced,” the U.S. has the best 5-year cancer survival rate of 22 countries studied. Although the Telegraph focuses on the dismal performance of Great Britain’s imploding system of socialized medicine, it also provides a chart showing the best performers.

Averaging the rates for men and women, the top five performers are as follows: United States (64.6%), Sweden (61.0%), Iceland (59.8%), Finland (58.5), and Switzerland (57.9%). The worst performer was Scotland. England was fifth from the bottom.

One of the most ironic findings involved the correlation between survival rates and per capita health care spending, Despite the fact that we are constantly bombarded by propaganda to the effect that U.S. health care is “too expensive,” that turns out to be an advantage:

A second article, which looked at 2.7 million patients diagnosed between 1995 and 1999, found that countries that spent the most on health per capita per year had better survival rates.

So, here’s a question for all of the people who claim that we in the United States spend too much on health care: Would you rather have a health care system that saves you money or one saves your life?

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