Oman first, Morocco holds 17th rank in health system efficiency
Regional, Health, 8/15/2001

A World Health Organization study ranked Morocco as 17th in terms of its health system efficiency, ahead of advanced countries like the UK (24th), Canada (35th) and the US (72nd).

The healthy diet of Mediterranean countries could be responsible for giving them a high ranking. Mediterranean countries, including Italy and Spain, occupy six of the seven top places.

The organization comments that some of the world's poorest and least developed countries have health systems that are in some ways better run than those in many Western countries.

The comparison of 191 country's health systems, published in the August 11th issue of the British Medical Journal, shows significant variations across the world. Oman has the most "efficient" health system in the world in terms of outcome while countries in sub-Saharan Africa have the worst performance records, according the WHO analysis.

The researchers assessed the efficiency of healthcare systems by comparing the amount of money spent with the outcome in terms of improving life expectancy.

The authors suggest that Oman's top ranking could be attributed to the fact that it had drastically reduced child mortality over the past 40 years, cutting rates from 310 to 18 per 1,000 live births.

Similarly, poor health records in countries like Zimbabwe--ranked 191st--Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo could be attributed to a record of civil unrest and high rates of HIV and AIDS.

Previous Stories:
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  Over 400,000 people live with HIV/AIDS in Eastern Mediterranean, WHO warns   (7/25/2001)
  Annan flags need to address AIDS, conflicts in Africa   (7/10/2001)

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