Medical staff will lead residents of a Covid-19 testing center in Hong Kong on Dec. 10.
Photographer: Roy Liu / Bloomberg
Photographer: Roy Liu / Bloomberg
While a pandemic ravaged the world, the Asian economies led by Hong Kong and Singapore were at the top ranking of most efficient health care systems.
The Bloomberg Health-Efficiency Index, first conducted in 2013, tracks life expectancy and medical expenses to determine which health care systems deliver the best results. This year’s results include the impact of Covid-19 on mortality and gross domestic product in 57 of the world’s largest economies.
These measures have helped many Asian territories improve their position on the list as their generally aggressive responses to the coronavirus kept the number of cases and deaths relatively low. Brazil and Russia joined the US at the bottom, due to relatively low life expectancies, high Covid-19 mortality and weaker economic outlook.
“Efficient health systems are often located in places with limited natural resources and therefore prioritize policies that depend on people’s potential,” said Pisonthi Chongtrakul, a professor in the Faculty of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.
“Success in combating Covid-19 has come in places that coordinated between government agencies and were willing to let health experts take control, which helped create clarity in public reporting,” he said.
To measure efficiency during the pandemic, two adjustments were made to the original ranking formula: The 2020 table includes the one-year change in GDP based on an October forecast by the International Monetary Fund, as well as the Covid-19 toll for any economy.
For example, a 6% contraction in GDP in 2020 led to a 6-point deduction from the total score, while a death toll or new confirmed cases of 100,000 subtracted 11.5 points.
The US is in the bottom 10% by this method, as is the formula used before Covid-19, which simply compared spending against life expectancy. America’s low scores reflect a mediocre average life span, the world’s largest expenditure on medical care along with the largest Covid-19 caseload.
Residents queue at a Covid-19 test center set up earlier in December on the grounds of a residential area in Hong Kong.
Photographer: Roy Liu / Bloomberg
Using the formula adapted for the pandemic, eight of the 10 most efficient health systems in the world are located in Asia Pacific. Singapore and Hong Kong top the list, while Taiwan, New Zealand, South Korea, and Thailand jumped forward in many areas based on their Covid-19 statistics.
“The pandemic has underscored the fact that economic health depends on public health, which in turn depends on adequate government spending on health,” said Poonam Khetrapal Singh, the director of the World Health Organization in Southeast Asia, on December 12. report.
“In normal times, every dollar invested in health provides an average return of between $ 2 and $ 4, which could be until 20 times higher in low- and middle-income countries, ”said Singh.
A visitor arrives at a fast Covid-19 test center tent in Paris earlier in November.
Photographer: Adrienne Surprenant / Bloomberg
The rankings of France, Spain and Peru tumbled the most among the 57 economies in the Bloomberg modified formula for 2020 survey, which includes only those economies with an average lifespan of at least 70 years, a GDP per capita of more over $ 5,000 and a minimum population of 5 million. India falls short of the minimum numbers, although it is one of the countries most affected by the pandemic.
China, the world’s most populous area, was ranked 25th by the pre-pandemic formula, but jumped to No. 12 when adjustments for Covid-19 were made. The epicenter of the virus was also where some of the most draconian measures were taken – ranging from controlling people’s movements to mandatory testing – to limit cases and deaths.
Read more: The Best and Worst Places to Be in the Coronavirus Age
All but two of the 57 economies in this index are expected to contract in 2020, according to projections from the International Monetary Fund, with only China and Taiwan expected to grow year-on-year.
The average lifespan in the US is 78.5 years, after declining several consecutive years, according to the latest data. That’s almost the same as in the UAE and Cuba, where per capita spending on health care is less than one tenth from US $ 10,246. Only the spending of $ 9,956 in Switzerland is close – yet the average Swiss lives five years longer than his American peers.
To access Bloomberg Health Efficiency, click here.
– Assisted by Alexandre Tanzi and Margo Towie
(updates with spreadsheet)