Cancer Statistics - September 9th, 2009 - 2 Comments
Why does the US have higher cancer survival rates than countries with universal health care?
Previously I asked if Ted Kennedy would get as aggressive treatment in the Canada or the UK as he is getting in the US.
Canadians and Brits unanimously said yes? If that’s so, then why are US cancer survival rates higher? Follow the link:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1560849/UK-cancer-survival-rate-lowest-in-Europe.html
A male in Scotland has a 40.2% survival rate, while a male in the US has a 66.3% survival rate.
Since all health care is rationed (either by the market, in the US, or by the government in countries with universal care), I assumed that the gov’t rationed care in favor of the young and not the elderly. Since the response was that overwhelmingly it’s not the case, there has to be some reason for the statistics. Is it that UK doctors suck?
Lynn B: Your response makes no sense. How does having more cases of cancer change the percentage of people surviving. The percentage is unitless, it would be the same if there were 10 cases of cancer or 10 million cases. From my reckoning, it either has to do with the type of care (more aggressive treatments in the US because it can be done, or competency).
Easy answer. Better medical care, more easily available. Many illnesses, especially cancer are treated most successfully when caught early. When you have to wait 6 months for a Doctor appointment it is sometimes too late.Thousand of people from Canada and Europe come here for treatment paying some serious money out of their own pockets since they obviously do not have any American health ins. I don’t remember ever hearing of Americans going to Europe in large numbers for better treatment.
I believe its not just about better medical care. Although it is a factor. It could also be that the US is ahead in terms of detecting cancer.
From what I know, one of the best ways of defeating cancer is early detection. Take for instance colon cancer. Colon cancer starts with a growth that is not yet cancer. Early detection can help the doctor find and remove these growths before they become cancerous. If the test finds that colon cancer has already developed, you have a much better chance of beating it if it is found early.
Regarding the question of percentage, yes there is a possibility that the number of cases can affect it. It will only have no effect if the number of cases and number of people surviving both change. For example, suppose there are 10 cancer cases and 5 people survive. That’s a 50% survival rate. But if the number of cases increase to 20 and still only 5 people survive, then it becomes a 25% survival rate.