Does Canada really rank 30th in world in terms of health care?
Lynda Buske buskel{at}cma.ca’ + u + ‘@’ + d + ”//–> The World Health Organization’s (WHO) World Health Report 2000 (www.who.int/whr/200/en/report.htm) ranked Canada 30th among 191 member states in terms of overall health-system performance. But what does the number mean and how was it derived? The performance ranking links overall health system achievement to health system expenditure. Canada ranked 7th in overall health-system achievement and 10th in terms of health spending, but fell to 30th when these 2 measures were combined because the methodology considers what could be achieved in a country given the level of resources available. The WHO assessment of overall health-system achievement was based on the overall level of population health, health inequalities within the population, responsiveness of the system based on patient satisfaction and how well the system performs, how well people of varying economic status feel they are served by the system and the distribution of the he
