https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.22.3.89, May/June 2003
This chart collection takes a look at how spending on healthcare in the United States compares to other OECD countries that are similarly large and wealthy (based on GDP and GDP per capita). The analysis looks at 2017 health data from the OECD Health Statistics database and the National Health Expenditure Accounts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_health_expenditure_per_capita
In 2018, the total expenditure on health care in China reached over 5.9 trillion yuan. That figure included government spending, collective spending, and private out-of-pocket spending on health care. https://www.statista.com/statistics/279400/health-expenditures-in-china/
Estimated median age of Chinese population 38.4 years: https://www.statista.com/topics/6000/aging-population-in-china/ very similar to the US (38.4 years in 2019 according to https://www.statista.com/statistics/241494/median-age-of-the-us-population/)
Ratio of Deaths / Confirmed cases versus country's spending on health
Ratio of Deaths / Confirmed cases versus population median age
One might expect some correlation between the ratio deaths/confirmed cases versus the median age of a country's population. It could be positive or negative.
- Positive might reflect that countries with a higher median age have better health systems and thus able to provide better care for Covid-19 patients thus leading to fewer deaths per confirmed cases.
- On the other hand, a younger population is less likely to succumb to the virus.
The scatter chart below shows the ratio vs the median age of a country and indicates little if any correlation (or even a consistently positive or negative trend) for all regions except Eastern Europe where there is a weak to moderate (R2=0.24) positive correlation.
- One data point is not shown on the chart. It is for Yemen which on 12/9/2020 had a ratio of 606 cumulated deaths/2079 confirmed cumulated cases = 29%, and a median age of 20.2 years.
Cumulative Confirmed cases versus the Democracy level in a country
One might expect that a more democratic country might have a much harder time imposing stricter regimentation (e.g. lockdowns) than a more tightly controlled country. This in turn, may be related to the level of democracy a country has.
We obtain the democracy level from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index#cite_note-8.
Looking at the chart below, for all regions except Eastern Europe, there is a very weak to nonexistent positive correlation. Eastern Europe has a weak to modest positive correlation (R2 = 0.24)
