The World Health Organization released the life expectancy results as of 2007 and Japan tops the list with an average life expectancy of 83 years. Amazingly, in spite of being one of the richest Countries in the world, the United States placed well back on the list with an average age expectancy of only 78 years. This comes as a shock to many Americans, but it really should not when you consider the melting pot of cultures, and the poor health care system that we are currently suffering in.
With health care, you must really have health insurance to get any type of decent help in the United States. That, or you have to be incredibly wealthy. Large numbers that are growing every single day are without that health care coverage, and it is hard to imagine how these rankings will only grow worse for the United States.
Some Countries that rank ahead of the United States include:
Australia: 82 years of age
Iceland: 82 years of age
Italy: 82 years of age
San Marino: 82 years of age
Switzerland: 82 years of age
Andorra: 81 years of age
Canada: 81 years of age
France: 81 years of age
Israel: 81 years of age
Monaco: 81 years of age
New Zealand: 81 years of age
Norway: 81 years of age
Singapore: 81 years of age
A large part of the expectancy is determined by diet as well. Many of these countries have a diet of large amounts of Omega 3 rich fish and salmon, and often eat in much better moderation than the American public does. The biggest difference in diets can be seen in the Asian countries, however.
America is currently attempting to reform health care and it is something that we desperately need to accomplish soon if politics will allow. If we have the resources to be saving folks and extending their lives, there is no excuse as to why any patient would be turned away. This is true of the rich as well as the poor people of the world.
Japan is well known as being one of the healthiest countries in the world and these statistics bear that out. A combination of outstanding health care and sound dietary choices are two of the primary factors that led to their top ranking of life expectancy.
Many of the shortest life expectancies were found in the African countries. In some regions the life expectancy drops to as low as the forties. This statistic is sad given the medical advances and treatments that could change their fate. One would think that we could find a way to make medical care a world wide thing, rather than having these numbers all over the place. A cure is a cure, and it should not be dependent on location or financial status. Life is far too precious for that.
Well it seems to me that we in Malaysia are suffering from high inflation and boom in our economy, we have to import in foreign labour for undesirable jobs that none of our citizens wants to work at. China, Indonesia and Singapore are also booming, an example would be a dessert I bought a month ago was $ 1.20 in local currency and currently is selling at $ 1.80 which shows high inflation… The job market is also good with 2 jobs available for 1 worker, leading to high wage growth, hence we have to import in labour. We found out after March 2009 that we were not going to go into a Recession, imagine our surprise when we were told we were going to go into a Recession, we suspect we were saved by China’s boom and growth !
Comment by Chris Leow — May 24, 2009 @ 9:56 pm