Reply #191: WHO - Best Latin American health system list published (World Health Org.)

[Judi Lynn]

WHO - Best Latin American health system list published
PL, 22 June 2000

GENEVA, Jun 22 (PL) Cuba, Colombia, Chile and Costa Rica are the Latin American countries with the best health systems announced the World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday in its report on World Health 2000.

Based on five indexes, the study analyzed the health systems of 191 UN member-countries and compared factors such as general population health level and the response capacity of these systems.

According to WHO, France is the country with the most efficient health system, followed by Italy, San Marino, Andorra, Malta, Singapore and Spain.

The US, in spite of being the country that spends the most on its health system, was in 37th place.

The study considered that Peru and Brazil, along with Cambodia, China, Myanmar, Russia, Sierra Leona, Nepal and Vietnam, are the countries giving the least finance to their health systems.

"If we design a comparative guide of what works and what does not, we could help countries learn from others and improve their systems," explained WHO Test and Information Policy executive director Julio Frenk.

The group's general director Gro Harlem Brundtland concluded that the "world population's health and welfare depends on the health systems of their countries." RJR/LPB
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