Bangladesh secured penultimate position in an 80-country “quality of death” study released Tuesday, only one step up above war-ridden Iraq.
The 2015 Quality of Death Index, compiled by the London-based Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), found Britain to be the best at palliative care.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), palliative care is an approach that improves quality of life through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of treatment of pain and other problems.
Bangladesh scored 14.1 in a scale out of 100. Even junta-ruled neighbouring Myanmar scored higher with 17.1. Other mentionable bottom countries are Iraq with 12.5, Philippines with 15.3 and Nigeria with 16.9.
However, four of the last five countries in the index – Myanmar, Nigeria, the Philippines and Bangladesh – are among the UN’s least-developed countries group. Surprisingly, China (71st), a rapidly developing country, was found to be among the most vulnerable from population ageing and rising incidences of conditions such as cardiovascular disease.
Top-ranked Britain was followed by Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Belgium and Taiwan. Germany, the Netherlands, the US and France are the other top-10 countries.
The report was based on two areas of research – the Economist Intelligence Unit’s “Quality of Death Index”, which ranks 80 countries in terms of the quality and availability of end-of-life care; and in-depth interviews with over 20 experts on the subject from across the world – including palliative care specialists, physicians, healthcare economists and sociologists – and reviewed existing research on the topic.
The index scores countries across four categories: Basic end-of-life healthcare environment; availability of end-of-life care; cost of end-of-life care; and quality of end-of-life care.
The EIU report, only the second edition, appreciated progress made by some poor countries such as Mongolia which, ranked 28th has invested in hospice facilities and Uganda – 35th – has managed to improve access to pain control through a public-private partnership.
