Does higher health care spending lead to longer life expectancy?

Route 1. Interactive database
Use our database to produce a graph of selected countries showing healthcare spending and life expectancy for selected years.

Route 1-- Producing your own graph

1. Open the database.
   [Warning – Data on health care spending is patchy, it is available for some countries and some years.]
2. Countries -- Click on "geographical region" and choose a group (eg. Europe)
3. Indicators -- select Life Expectancy at Birth (total) and Health Expenditure per capita PPP
4. Year -- Choose 1995 (beginning and ending; this is the best year for availability of health spending data).
5. Output -- Produce a line graph.
6. Interpret your graph:
   1. List countries with high or low health spending relative to countries with comparable life expectancy.
   2. Investigate (with other resources) possible explanations for relatively high and low health care spending compared to life expectancy.

[Question – how do we look at changes in health spending over time].

Route 2 -- Examine the two graphs

1. Open the Health Care Spending page
2. Scroll down to 'The cost of a long life". What stands out?
3. Next look at " life expectancy versus spending". What does the graph tell you? Can you explain the outlying points like South Africa, Cuba and USA?