Health of Nations, Preventable Deaths

In an article in Health Affairs this month; Health Affairs, 27, no. 1 (2008): 58-71, the authors from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine compared 30 conditions in the European Union and the USA that were responsive to preventive interventions. As might be expected in a country where technology is more important than prevention, the U.S. came in last among the 19 countries studied! In a previous study 10 years ago the U.S. was only 15th. It is high time that those suggesting changes in the health care system focused on prevention of diseases that become more prevalent as the population ages, or we will soon bankrupt the health care system..