Global Health Systems - Essay Example

Health statistics and costs The health statistics and costs of Singapore and United States can be compared to get a clear picture of where the two countries stand. The life expectancy at birth in Singapore is 82 years and it is 78 years in U.S. the infant mortality rate is 2.3 deaths per 1,000 births in Singapore while in U.S. it is 6.4 deaths per 1,000. U.S. has more caregivers than Singapore due to its population. There are 2.6 physicians per 1,000 people in U.S, while Singapore has 1.4 physicians per 1,000.

There are 9.4 nurses per 1,000 people in U.S. while 4.2 in Singapore. The number of dentists in U.S. is six times greater and pharmacists are three times of those in Singapore. According to the WHO, U.S. spends about 15.3% of its total GDP on healthcare and Singapore spends only 3.7% (Holtz, 2008). Despite these figures, Singaporeans are healthier than Americans and the amount they pay per person is one-fifth of what the Americans pay. Healthcare Financing In Singapore, the state funds one-fourth of the total healthcare costs.

The major source for the healthcare finance is individuals themselves and their employers. The government, using taxes, spends about U.S. $381 per capita on healthcare. As compared to the U.S. government, this figure is about one-seventh of the total costs spent by American government (Holtz, 2008). Singaporeans take care of their own healthcare and pay for their medical care. The role of the government is to make the healthcare affordable through subsidies and funds to the public hospitals for those who cannot afford.

On the other hand, Americas healthcare depends on the private insurance sector and the government agencies are only for elderly or low income groups. The private healthcare is costly. Healthcare Administration The main regulator of the healthcare system in Singapore is the Minister of Health (MOH). MOH is responsible for the regulation of the healthcare services. It promotes the health education, monitors the quality and accessibility of the health services, controls and prevents diseases, allocates resources and administers the licenses of healthcare establishments.

On the other hand about 60% of the U.S. health provision is regulated by the programs such as Medicaid and Medicare. Medicare provides healthcare to the elderly which is supported by the taxes paid by the working class. Medicaid is for the people with low incomes. However, due to the high costs of private healthcare services, the Medicaid program is being overflowed (Holtz, 2008). Healthcare Personnel and Facilities U.S has one of the best medical education system and it has physicians and nurses several times more than that of Singapore.

However this is because of the population gap. In reality, U.S. has a decreasing number of physicians and nurses. This is because of the inability to pay wages to the nurses and physicians (Holtz, 2008). The nurses roles have been increased because of which they are leaving the jobs. On the other hand, Singapore has authoritative and administrative controls in its healthcare systems hence they are successfully providing and ensuring that all citizens in need are receiving the adequate healthcare facilities.

Their nurses and physicians are paid good because of which