People live far longer in some countries than in others, and countries spend very different shares of their income on health. What do we owe the sick and the old, and who is to pay?
The picture
What the numbers show, read from the Data library each time the page opens.
How to read the chart above, and the words it uses (for life expectancy).
How to read the data
The figure is how long a newborn would live if that year’s death rates by age held for life. It rises as deaths fall at any age, especially in infancy, so it is not a prediction for any one person.
Key terms
Life expectancy
The average years a newborn would live at that year’s death rates.
Life table
A record of deaths by age from which expectancy is worked out.
Infant mortality
Deaths of children in their first year.
Who has a stake
Each interest, then readings from the Catholic library and the Classics library that bear on it, oldest first. Choose a group to read.
Care when they need it, honest treatment, and not being left to cope alone or priced out of help.
The means and the time to care well, fair pay, and the trust of those they treat.
That what is spent is raised fairly and used well, whether through taxes, insurance or their own pockets.
To be honoured, to keep their place and their say in family and community, and to be cared for without being treated as a burden.
For discussion
What do we owe those who are sick, whatever they can pay, and who should bear the cost of that care?
How should the interests of old people who need care be weighed against those of the young who pay for it?
When more years are given, what makes them a gift to be honoured and not a burden to be managed?
