dotlah! dotlah!
  • Cities
  • Technology
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Science
  • About
Social Links
  • zedreviews.com
  • citi.io
  • aster.cloud
  • liwaiwai.com
  • guzz.co.uk
  • atinatin.com
0 Likes
0 Followers
0 Subscribers
dotlah!
  • Cities
  • Technology
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Science
  • About
  • People
  • World Events

How Much Do Countries Spend On Their Health Systems?

  • April 13, 2020
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0

With almost 2 million confirmed cases globally, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to place a massive strain on the world’s healthcare systems.

One would expect that for developed countries, handling this pandemic will be a manageable task given that they have advanced health systems in their arsenal. While this is the case for some, there are a lot of highly developed countries that are gravely overwhelmed by the disease outbreak.

This pandemic reveals to us that there is more to resilience than just a high level of expenditure to healthcare.

With this, how much are countries spending on healthcare and how are they holding up in this pandemic?

Highlights

In 2018, the OECD Institute collected healthcare data of their member countries that were all compiled in their recent publication, Health at a Glance 2019.

One of the data sets collected is the size of healthcare expenditure relative to the 2018 gross domestic product (GDP) of a country. The graph above by Statista displays selected countries from the report.

At 16.9% of the 2018 GDP, the United States has the largest size of expenditure in health care.

However, the country is also the most inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic according to the latest records, with nearly 500,000 confirmed casesas of April 13.

European countries like France (11.2%), Germany (11.2%), United Kingdom (9.8%), Spain (8.9%), and Italy (8.8%) are among the highest spenders within the members of OECD.

In 2018, all of them have spent at least as much or greater than the average share of healthcare expenditure of OECD countries, which is 8.8 percent.

However, all these European countries mentioned also recorded some of the highest COVID-19 cases in the world. Each of these countries have confirmed cases ranging from 50,000 to a whopping 160,000.

This places them in just the same scenario as Turkey, with more than 30,000 confirmed cases. Yet Turkey is one of the lowest healthcare spenders in OECD, allocating only 4.2% of their 2018 GDP for their health system.

Beyond large funding

In contrast, there is also another high-spender South Korea, which allocated 8.1% of their 2018 GDP to healthcare. They have only experienced around 165 deaths as of April 1, with their confirmed cases already pretty much stabilized at this point.

What makes South Korea different from the rest?

South Korea has been swift in their response to the emergence of  COVID-19, almost immediately proceeding to mass testing, contact tracing, and isolation of confirmed cases.

This of course initially inflated the number of confirmed cases in the country, which is about 10,384 as of April 8. However, a huge proportion (6,776) of these confirmed are already marked as recoveries. The goal of flattening the curve is nearly attained.

Granted, large allocations to healthcare is much welcomed to enable the improvement of health systems. However, this would not suffice if the goal is to be resilient in the event of sudden health crisis situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Quick response, long-term planning, and vigilance are also equally important aspects that should not be taken for granted.

Total
0
Shares
Share
Tweet
Share
Share
Related Topics
  • Coronavirus
  • COVID-19
  • Expenditure
  • Health
  • Healthcare
  • OECD
dotlah.com

Previous Article
  • Lah!

Elevated Safe Distancing Measures On Public Transport

  • April 10, 2020
View Post
Next Article
  • Lah!

MAS Launches S$125 Million Package For Financial Institutions And FinTech Firms to Strengthen Long-Term Capabilities

  • April 13, 2020
View Post
You May Also Like
View Post
  • People
  • Politics

Singapore PM Wong arrives in Malacañang

  • dotlah.com
  • June 4, 2025
college-of-cardinals-2025
View Post
  • Featured
  • Features
  • World Events

The Definitive Who’s Who of the 2025 Papal Conclave

  • Dean Marc
  • May 8, 2025
conclave-poster-black-smoke
View Post
  • Featured
  • Features
  • World Events

The World Is Revalidating Itself

  • Dean Marc
  • May 7, 2025
View Post
  • Featured
  • Features
  • People

Conclave: How A New Pope Is Chosen

  • Dean Marc
  • April 25, 2025
View Post
  • People

PM Wong takes Scoot flight, fellow passengers cheer

  • dotlah.com
  • October 16, 2024
dotlah-pm-lee-lawrence-wong-9656d4cd-1fa4-40ed-905d-e19e639b8476_728802dd
View Post
  • Lah!
  • People
  • Politics

End of Lee Era for Singapore as PM Steps Down

  • dotlah.com
  • May 16, 2024
View Post
  • People
  • Politics

‘A much bigger step forward’: Lawrence Wong on his journey to becoming Singapore’s fourth PM

  • dotlah.com
  • May 15, 2024
DPM Lawrence Wong will be Singapore's fourth prime minister on May 15. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
View Post
  • Lah!
  • People
  • Politics

7 things to know about Singapore’s next prime minister Lawrence Wong

  • dotlah.com
  • May 15, 2024


Trending
  • 1
    • Lah!
    MoneySense Launches Campaign To Promote Financial Resilience Amid COVID-19 Challenges
    • October 5, 2021
  • 2
    • Lah!
    • Technology
    Connecting Our Content Creators To Global Media Players And Audiences Singapore Media Festival 2021: Connecting Our Content Creators To Global Media Players And Audiences
    • October 27, 2021
  • singapore-night-sky-pexels-phil-goulson-2058911 3
    • Cities
    • Technology
    Data Analytics: The Key to Delivering Smart Cities
    • September 30, 2021
  • 4
    • Society
    • Technology
    How Coronavirus Is (Unexpectedly) Accelerating The Future Of Work
    • March 9, 2020
  • 5
    • Gears
    Press Start (Or Hit Enter)! Your Go-To Loadout for Streamers and Gamers.
    • July 19, 2025
  • 6
    • Economy
    • People
    • World Events
    How COVID-19 Is Reversing The Progress In The Fight Against Global Poverty
    • May 29, 2020
  • 7
    • Science
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Dedicates Additional Funding To The Novel Coronavirus Response
    • February 10, 2020
  • 8
    • Cities
    • Lah!
    AVS Finalises Licensing Conditions For Pet Breeding And Boarding Industries, And Is Seeking Feedback For Dog Rehoming And Adoption Practices
    • October 9, 2021
  • 9
    • Lah!
    Singapore’s Greening Journey: 200 Years And Beyond – An Exhibition On Singapore’s Transformation Into One Of The World’s Lushest Cities
    • August 7, 2019
  • 10
    • Cities
    Tips For Moving To An Expensive New City
    • July 10, 2020
  • 11
    • Lah!
    • Technology
    World’s Leading Scientists And Technologists To Gather At The Global Young Scientists Summit 2021
    • January 8, 2021
  • 12
    • People
    • World Events
    Coronavirus: The Latest Disease To Fuel Mistrust, Fear And Racism
    • February 13, 2020
Trending
  • 1
    Press Start (Or Hit Enter)! Your Go-To Loadout for Streamers and Gamers.
    • July 19, 2025
  • 2
    ESWIN Computing launches the EBC77 Series Single Board Computer with Ubuntu
    • July 17, 2025
  • 3
    Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Raising the Bar for Smartphones
    • July 9, 2025
  • Camping 4
    The Summer Adventures : Camping Essentials
    • June 28, 2025
  • 5
    Meralco PowerGen’s PacificLight starts up 100 MW fast-response plant in Singapore
    • June 20, 2025
  • 6
    A Father’s Day Gift for Every Pop and Papa
    • June 14, 2025
  • 7
    Apple services deliver powerful features and intelligent updates to users this autumn
    • June 12, 2025
  • 8
    Apple supercharges its tools and technologies for developers to foster creativity, innovation, and design
    • June 11, 2025
  • 9
    It’s time to stop debating whether AI is genuinely intelligent and focus on making it work for society
    • June 8, 2025
  • 10
    PBBM asks Singapore to invest more in PH renewable energy projects
    • June 6, 2025
Social Links
dotlah! dotlah!
  • Cities
  • Technology
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Science
  • About
Connecting Dots Across Asia's Tech and Urban Landscape

Input your search keywords and press Enter.