A new report concludes 600,000 children have died in the United States for no reason over a 50-year period. (That's over 30 a day on average for 50 years, for you keeping score at home.)
This is the real “death tax.” It’s a tax on poverty, a tax on race, a tax on political powerlessness. And it’s paid with the lives of the innocent. (Will the party of family values attack this like they would attack ISIS if ISIS was doing this to our children? Sadly, no, because their policies, or lack thereof, have been the principle players in the cause of this calamity. And now Trump and Paul Ryan want to double down on those efforts with their proposed budget cuts.)
The report, published in the journal Health Affairs, compared child mortality in the United States with that of 19 other comparably developed nations. Here’s what the authors found:
A child born in the U.S. is 76 percent more likely to die before reaching adulthood than a child born elsewhere in the developed world.
“From 2001 to 2010 the risk of death in the U.S. was 76 percent greater for infants and 57 percent greater for children ages 1–19.”
“During this decade, children ages 15–19 were eighty-two times more likely to die from gun homicide in the U.S.. Over the fifty-year study period, the lagging U.S. performance amounted to over 600,000 excess deaths.”
The leading cause of infant death was extreme immaturity, which was three times higher for American infants, followed by sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
For children aged 15 to 19, motor vehicle accidents were the leading cause of death. Significantly, these accidents were twice as likely to result in death in the U.S. The second-leading cause of death was gunfire. American teens were 82 times more likely to die by gun than their peers in the comparison countries.
“There is not a single category for which the (comparison countries) had higher mortality rates than the U.S. over the last three decades of our analysis.”
The United States spends more on health care than the other countries, but has worse outcomes.
Although it spent more on health care, the U.S. “spent significantly less of its gross domestic product per capital on child health and welfare programs, compared to other wealthy nations.” These programs also affect child health.
The U.S., say the report’s authors, is “the most dangerous of wealthy nations for a child to be born into.” (USA? USA? USA?)
As the Los Angeles Times notes, “The study authors said their findings support the conclusions of the Institute of Medicine, which blamed a fragmented health system, poverty, a weak social safety net and other factors for ‘poor health outcomes’ in the U.S.”
The authors reached the following conclusions:
“The care of children is a basic moral responsibility of our society. The U.S. outspends every other nation on health care per capital for children, yet outcomes remain poor.”
“All U.S. policy makers, pediatric health professionals, child health advocates, and families should be troubled by these findings.”
They also warn that Donald Trump’s proposed budget cuts will make the situation even worse.
https://ourfuture.org/20180122/death-by-inequality-poverty-and-racism-are-killing-americas-children
This is the real “death tax.” It’s a tax on poverty, a tax on race, a tax on political powerlessness. And it’s paid with the lives of the innocent. (Will the party of family values attack this like they would attack ISIS if ISIS was doing this to our children? Sadly, no, because their policies, or lack thereof, have been the principle players in the cause of this calamity. And now Trump and Paul Ryan want to double down on those efforts with their proposed budget cuts.)
The report, published in the journal Health Affairs, compared child mortality in the United States with that of 19 other comparably developed nations. Here’s what the authors found:
A child born in the U.S. is 76 percent more likely to die before reaching adulthood than a child born elsewhere in the developed world.
“From 2001 to 2010 the risk of death in the U.S. was 76 percent greater for infants and 57 percent greater for children ages 1–19.”
“During this decade, children ages 15–19 were eighty-two times more likely to die from gun homicide in the U.S.. Over the fifty-year study period, the lagging U.S. performance amounted to over 600,000 excess deaths.”
The leading cause of infant death was extreme immaturity, which was three times higher for American infants, followed by sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
For children aged 15 to 19, motor vehicle accidents were the leading cause of death. Significantly, these accidents were twice as likely to result in death in the U.S. The second-leading cause of death was gunfire. American teens were 82 times more likely to die by gun than their peers in the comparison countries.
“There is not a single category for which the (comparison countries) had higher mortality rates than the U.S. over the last three decades of our analysis.”
The United States spends more on health care than the other countries, but has worse outcomes.
Although it spent more on health care, the U.S. “spent significantly less of its gross domestic product per capital on child health and welfare programs, compared to other wealthy nations.” These programs also affect child health.
The U.S., say the report’s authors, is “the most dangerous of wealthy nations for a child to be born into.” (USA? USA? USA?)
As the Los Angeles Times notes, “The study authors said their findings support the conclusions of the Institute of Medicine, which blamed a fragmented health system, poverty, a weak social safety net and other factors for ‘poor health outcomes’ in the U.S.”
The authors reached the following conclusions:
“The care of children is a basic moral responsibility of our society. The U.S. outspends every other nation on health care per capital for children, yet outcomes remain poor.”
“All U.S. policy makers, pediatric health professionals, child health advocates, and families should be troubled by these findings.”
They also warn that Donald Trump’s proposed budget cuts will make the situation even worse.
https://ourfuture.org/20180122/death-by-inequality-poverty-and-racism-are-killing-americas-children
