Bad health care the biggest cause of preventable deaths in most countries, study finds

Nearly six in 10 deaths from treatable conditions in low- and middle-income countries result from low-quality health care – a bigger killer than insufficient access to treatment, according to a report released yesterday.

Every year, about five million people in these countries die as a result of substandard care, says the report published in medical journal The Lancet.

This was out of 8.6 million total deaths from treatable conditions, and far outweighs the 3.6 million deaths from lack of access to health care.

Overall, deaths from treatable conditions cost the global economy some US$6 trillion in 2015 alone, the researchers found, pointing to “systematic deficits” in primary and hospital care.

“For too long, the global health discourse has been focused on improving access to care without sufficient emphasis on high-quality care,” said Muhammad Pate, a co-author of the report by The Lancet Global Health Commission, of which he is co-chairman.

“Providing health services without guaranteeing a minimum level of quality is ineffective, wasteful and unethical,” Pate added, warning there was a “vast epidemic of low-quality care”.