Health
Democracy -- healthier than dictatorship
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Jan. 17, 2005
Those who live in democracies tend to have better health than those who live under more repressive regimes, according to a study published in the Dec. 18, 2004, issue of the British Medical Journal.
Researchers at Spain's University of Alicante created a database of the per capita gross national product, total government expenditure, a measure of inequality, freedom ratings, life expectancy and maternal and infant mortality for 98% of the world's population in 170 countries.
Countries that enjoyed the most freedom had the best health while those who had the least freedom had the worst health -- even when adjusted for the country's wealth.
"Democracy showed a stronger and more significant association with indicators of health ... than indicators of gross national product, total government expenditure or inequality in income," wrote the authors.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/01/17/hlbf0117.htm.
