Discussion Question: Global Comparative Statistics

  

Textbook: Fried, BJ and Gaydos, LM. (2012). World Health Systems: Challenges & Perspectives (2nd Ed.). ISBN:978-1-56793-420-5

Perhaps you have heard the phrase:

"There are three types of lies in the world; Small Lies, Big Lies, and Statistics". Having taught advanced non-parametric statistics for many years, I wouldn't go quite that far....but we need to be careful - very careful.

In Chapter 2, your book states that in the World Health Report 2000, countries were ranked on the performance of their health systems. Health rankings have been widely criticized (e.g., Roy (2014), Almeida, et al, (2001) and Coyne, Hilsenrath, and Navarro (2002)) for many years.

What is the basis for this criticism? In what ways are these rankings useful – or not useful?

Read the following articles to assist in your response. 

Roy:

http://www.nationalreview.com/agenda/230340/commonwealth-fund-rags-us-health-care-avik-roy (Links to an external site.)

Almeida, C., P. Braveman, M. R. Gold, C. L. Czwarcwald, J. M. Ribeiro, A. Miglionico, J. S. Millar, S. Porto, N. R. Costa, V. O. Rubio, M. Segall, B. Starfield, C. Travassos, A. Uga, J. Valente, and F. Viacava. 2001. “Methodological Concerns and Recommendations on Policy Consequences of the World Health Report 2000.” Lancet 357 (9269): 1692–97.

http://ezproxy.brenau.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mnh&AN=11425394&site=ehost-live (Links to an external site.)

Coyne, J. S., P. Hilsenrath, and V. Navarro. 2002. “The World Health Report 2000: Can Health Care Systems Be Compared Using a Single Measure of Performance?” Journal of Public Health 92 (1): 30, 31, 32–33, 33–34. 

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