LEIPZIG, Germany: Countries in Asia have been found to spend less of their GDP’s for health care than most other countries in Europe and the US. According to a new health care report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris, France, only New Zealand provided more money for health care in 2007 than the average of all observed countries. Japan, Korea and Australia, however, spent less than the OECD average of 8.9 per cent.

The United States currently spends more on health than any other country - almost two and a half times greater than the OECD average of 2984 USD, adjusted for purchasing power parity. Luxembourg, France and Switzerland also spend far more than the OECD average. At the other end of the scale, in Turkey and Mexico health expenditure was less than one-third the OECD average.

The 2009 edition of the OECD Health at a Glance report also shows that all countries could do better in providing good quality health care. Key indicators presented in the report provided information on health status and the determinants of health, including the growing rates of child and adult obesity, which are likely to drive health spending higher in the coming decades.

The report also had new data on access to care, showing that all OECD countries provide universal or near-universal coverage for a core set of health services, except the United States, Mexico and Turkey.