Canada outshines the United States in health outcomes but is well behind global leaders like Japan in the overall health of its population, a report from the Conference Board of Canada contends.
The annual report card ranks Canada 10th out of 16 developed countries, with a "B" grade.
The United States was the worst performer, placing 16th and earning a "D" grade. Japan was once again the top-ranking country. Switzerland, Italy, and Norway also earned "A" grades.
"Canada's middle-of-the-road ranking overall --a solid 'B'-- would surprise most Canadians who are immensely proud of their health-care system," the report reads, noting Canadians' universal access to health-care services, highly skilled health-care professionals, and internationally recognized health-care and research institutions.
But our health system also has challenges, says the report, including long wait times for some diagnostics and treatments, and limited availability of health information systems.
What's more, health care is just one of several contributors to the health of Canadians; other factors independent of the formal health-care system also come into play, such as:
- age of the population
- tobacco use
- alcohol consumption
- physical activity
- eating habits.
The Conference Board ranked the 16 countries according to 11 criteria, including life expectancy, mortality due to cancer and other diseases, as well as infant mortality and self-reported health status.
Canada received no "D" grades on any of the 11 indicators, but did get "C"s on the mortality due to diabetes (14th place), mortality due to musculoskeletal diseases (10th place), and infant mortality (15th place) indicators.
Most of the data on which the report card was based is from 2006, the group said.
Gabriela Prada, the director of Health Policy, Innovation and Evaluation at the Conference Board, suggested the poor showing on diabetes deaths is a good indicator of how Canada is doing a poor job in managing chronic diseases.
"As the population ages, the burden from chronic diseases will only grow, unless Canadians change their attitudes and behaviours," Prada said.
"Canada has no choice but to adopt a model of health care that focuses on sound primary care practices, particularly preventing and better manage chronic diseases."
The report notes that most of the top-performing countries have achieved better health outcomes through action on such things as health promotion programs that focus on changes in lifestyle, along with education and early childhood developments.
"British Columbia's internationally lauded ActNow program, which encourages citizens to exercise more and eat healthier food, is a particularly promising model of intra-governmental collaboration to develop health policy," the report reads.
Canada is slightly above average-- ranking seventh --in a new indicator measuring patient safety: mortality due to "medical misadventures." About 150 Canadians die a year as a result of adverse medical events.
Overall, an estimated 158,000 Canadians suffer a misadventure during surgical or other medical care, and close to 60,000 of these cases are considered preventable.
"Reporting near misses, rather than morbidity and mortality data, offers the greatest potential to gain insight into how to strengthen patient safety," the report contends.
Rank Country Grade
- Japan A
- Switzerland A
- Italy A
- Norway A
- Sweden B
- France B
- Finland B
- Germany B
- Australia B
- Canada B
- Netherlands C
- Austria C
- Ireland C
- United Kingdom D
- Denmark D
- United States D
