NEWS
OECD Report on Israeli Health
by N. Katzin
Israeli longevity is higher than other developed nations, while the share of the GDP devoted to health resources is among the lowest. This was revealed in a study of OECD which grades facts on national health of the 38 countries which are members of this organization.
The report titled, "The health system in Israel according to the OECD Standards," is dated 2019, and was recently published by the Strategic and Economic Administration and Planning of the Health Ministry. It studied a range of health indices in relation to different countries. This report, however, does not reflect the differences which took place in the world health sector due to the Corona epidemic since the data is as of 2019.
According to the study, the overall Israel life span stands at 82.9 years, one of the highest in the world. The life span of Israeli men has risen in the past few years to about 81, and it stands two years higher than the average of the OECD nations, which is 78.3. The female life span is 84.8, compared to 83.6 as the OECD average.
Infant mortality in Israel is lower than the average at 3.1 deaths per a thousand live births as compared to an average of 4.2 deaths in the OECD nations. Alcohol consumption in Israel is significantly lower, at 3.1 liters a year, compared with 8.8 in the other member countries.
Overweight in the Israeli population stands at 17.7%, smoking at 16.4%, which is close to that of the organization's overall countries (at 17.5% and 16.3% respectively). Surgical births (caesareans) are also the lowest - 151 per thousand births, as compared to the average 276 obstetric surgeries in the rest of the OECD.
Despite the positive performance of the health system, the reports show a rate of resources devoted to health in Israel as being much lower than of the other developed countries: the overall public outlay for health is among the lowest in Israel, standing at 65% versus 74% of the average, occupying the 31st place among the 38 member countries. Israel stands third in the OECD figures with those holding voluntary health insurance at a rate of 84%.
The number of doctors and nurses is low with 9% lower than the average at 3.3 doctors per 1000 people, while the number of nurses, 5 per 1000, is also one of the lowest figures. The number of hospital beds is also relatively low, however their occupancy stands at 91%, which is of the highest among the organization's members.
The number of MRI devices per million citizens in Israel stands at a mere 5.1, as compared to the average of 17. Only Mexico and Colombia rate lower than Israel. In CT installations, Israel stands on par with the average.
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