Philippines among 'worst' places to die, study says
MANILA, Philippines - The 2015 Quality of Death Index, compiled by the London-based Economist Intelligence Unit, found Philippines to be at the bottom five when it comes to "quality of death" or palliative care.
The report describes palliative care in the Philippines as "not welldeveloped," citing that the problem greatly lies on the lack of funding that underpins systemic problems in the delivery of service. It also mentioned that drugs in the Philippines are expensive and most patients die without adequate pain relief.
Palliative care is considered as a growing worldwide issue, given the rapid increase in population of each country. Based on interviews with palliative care experts in each country, the study found out that among the eighty countries subjected under study, Britain is the best country with palliative care provision, followed by Australia and New Zealand.
"Many developing countries are still unable to provide basic pain management due to limitations in staff and basic infrastructure," the report said.
The study also found out that income levels is strongly related with the palliative care service. This maybe the reason why third world countries were placed at the bottom of the rankings.
Below are the scores according to the study:
Top 10 (scores out of 100):
93.9 -- Britain
91.6 -- Australia
87.6 -- New Zealand
85.8 -- Ireland
84.5 -- Belgium
83.1 -- Taiwan
82.0 -- Germany
80.9 -- Netherlands
80.8 -- United States
79.4 -- France
Bottom five:
17.1 -- Myanmar
16.9 -- Nigeria
15.3 -- Philippines
14.1 -- Bangladesh
12.5 -- Iraq
