Olympic medals or long life: what's the bottom line?
On a per capita basis, Australia spent more than seven times as much on its Sydney Olympic team as did Canada, to win four times as many medals. Compared with Australia, Canada spent an additional amount per capita (standardised to the purchasing power parity rate at year 2000) of US dollars 1605 per life-year gained on healthcare in 2000. Neither country is "right" or "wrong" in making these funding choices, but they highlight the need for more explicit discussion about what is being spent, what is obtained for the given expenditure and what society actually values.
Mitton
Craig R
CR
Division of Health Sciences, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, WA. crmitton@ucalgary.ca
Davies
H Dele
HD
Donaldson
Cam R
CR
D001315:Australia; D001363:Awards and Prizes; D002170:Canada; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D015276:Health Care Rationing / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006292:Health Priorities / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy; D040841:Resource Allocation / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013177:Sports / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006113:United Kingdom