Chart created by Justina Ramdhany Data collected from the OECD database This chart compares healthcare financing, expenditure, resources and utilization, and health statuses between the countries United States and the Netherlands. A few key indicators that I would like to draw your attention to in the chart above include each country's gross domestic product per capita, number of hospitals per million population, infant mortality rate and maternal mortality rate.
As you can see, the gross domestic product per capita in America exceeds the gross domestic product per capita in the Netherlands by roughly 20 million dollars. Even at this rate, the healthcare resources and utilization in the Netherlands exceeds that in the United States in every category. For example, the number of practicing physicians per 1000 population is higher by about 1 in the Netherlands. Additionally, the number of hospitals per million population in the Netherlands exceed the number of hospitals in America by about 12. This raises the question of: why do a wide range of Americans have less access to healthcare resources when the government can afford more than the government in the Netherlands?
Another surprising piece of data that I would like to analyze is the maternal mortality rate between the two countries. The number in the United States is horrifyingly shocking. In 2018, 17 - 18 mothers mothers have died either while pregnant, after terminating a pregnancy, or any cause related to the pregnancy. On the other hand, there have been only three reported maternal deaths in 2018 in the Netherlands. This raises the question of: what type of care are mothers receiving in our hospitals?
The last piece of information is the difference between the obesity population between the two countries. In 2018, the obesity population in the United States was 66.2, whereas the obesity population in the Netherlands was 48.5. This shows that Americans are on average more unhealthy than the Dutch. It also shows differences in culture. The American diet and way of life leads to more unhealthy outcomes.