Britain may not be the best place to live, but it is the best place to die。
英国可能不是最适宜居住的地方,但却是最适合死的地方。
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) ranked the country first in its latest quality-of-death index, which uses 20 quantitative and qualitative indicators to measure the effectiveness of end-of-life care in 80 countries。 The measures include the the quality of palliative care, affordability, the health care environment, and community engagement。
How we die is becoming a critical topic as populations live longer, often with multiple diseases requiring complex (and costly) management。 Developing countries in particular grapple with how to deliver basic pain relief to the dying。
Not surprisingly, rich countries generally did better than poor ones in the rankings。 But there are noteworthy variations: the U.S。 came in ninth place with a score of 80.8 (out of 100), far below the 93.9 score achieved by Britain, where complaining about health care is as popular as grumbling about the weather。
图:高收入国家死亡质量指数
Costa Rica ranks top among middle-income countries, thanks in part to extensive volunteer networks that support public services, according to the EIU。
表:中等收入国家死亡质量指数
The most striking finding in the report is that Mongolia, a poor country with few provisions for end-of-life care in 2000, now leads the low-income countries with a score of 57.7, which puts it 28th overall, above a host of more advanced economies。