France is a far healthier country than America
Yet even its medical care is under strain
France spends less of its national income on health care than America, but is by most measures a lot healthier. Its total health expenditure, at 12.1% of GDP, is well below the 16.6% in America. Yet the French live on average six years longer than Americans. France’s mortality rate from heart attacks is a third of America’s, its obesity rate is about a third as high, and its rate of opioid-linked deaths a tiny fraction.
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This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Fresh prescription”
Europe
April 26th 2025- France is a far healthier country than America
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From the April 26th 2025 edition
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Ukraine’s political infighting gets nasty
As Trump starves it of arms, there is turmoil inside the government
Turkey’s strongman is becoming Donald Trump’s point man
But renewed war with Iran would put the honeymoon with Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the test
Germany’s Bundestag bars AfD MPs from its football team
Could the sporting ban precede a political one?
An infestation of ticks menaces Istanbul
And mosquitos are a growing problem too
The sleeping policeman at the heart of Europe
Enforcement of EU law has become an afterthought
A pragmatic amnesty for separatists benefits Catalonia
But it carries costs for the rule of law