…of treatable conditions.

Answer: France, Japan or Australia.

Well, they only looked at statistics for 19 nations – but I doubt if Malaysia does as well as the last country, number 19 – which was the USA. But then, you never know. Not so long ago we did better on infant mortality than the USA did.

I reckon, though, superstition on the part of a large segment of our population would bring our statistics down. You only have to see all those good folk from all over Malaysia, lining up a couple of times a week, to have their flagons of water blessed at the shaman’s place down the road from me, in the hope of curing their ills and getting rid of their bad luck – when they should be going to the doctor instead.

According to this report, if the U.S. health care system performed as well as the three countries named above, there would be 101,000 fewer deaths in the United States per year. [The researchers wondered if the fact that 47 million Americans lack health insurance might have something to do with that…]

France had 64.8 deaths deemed preventable by timely and effective health care per 100,000 people in the study period of 2002 and 2003. The US had 109.7 such deaths.

After Australia (71.3) came Spain, Italy, Canada, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Greece, Austria, Germany, Finland, New Zealand, Denmark, Britain, Ireland and Portugal. And the United States last.