One Million Americans Die Preventably Annually In USA
By Dr Gideon Polya
18 February, 2012
Countercurrents.org
The US is the richest country on earth but an estimated 1 million Americans die preventable deaths each year due to gross fiscal perversion whereby trillions of dollars are spent on the military, wars and killing people abroad rather than on keeping Americans alive at home. The traitorous Neocon American and Zionist Imperialist (NAZI) Establishment 1% responsible for this passive mass murder of 1 million Americans each year should be exposed and sidelined by the long-suffering 99% of ordinary Americans. For those who love ordinary Americans and have been inspired by great American humanitarians, there are some truly shocking statistics below.
The US has a Gross National Product of $14.5 trillion (see “List of countries by GDP”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28nominal%29 ), has a national debt of $9.1 trillion that is 63% of GDP (see “Government debt”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_debt#By_country ) and devotes $698 billion each year to military expenditure, this representing 4.8% of GDP, 43% of World military expenditure and $698,000 million/ 314.7 million = $2,217 per person. By way of comparison, total US expenditure on health per capita is $ 7,410, total expenditure on health as % of GDP is 16.2% (2009 data; WHO: http://www.who.int/countries/usa/en/ ) and total annual US expenditure of health is accordingly $7,410 per person x 314.7 million persons = $2.3 trillion or $2,300 billion per year.
The accrual cost (long-term committed cost) of the Iraq War has been estimated at $3.0 trillion to $3.5 trillion (by Economics Nobel Laureate Professor Joseph Stiglitz, Columbia University, and the Joint Economic Committee of the US Congress: (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Trillion_Dollar_War ) and that of the Afghan War at up to $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion ( by Professor Michael Intriligator, professor of economics, political science and public policy at UCLA: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25479.htm ) i.e. a total accrual cost of about $5 trillion.
According to John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt in "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy": “Total direct U.S. aid to Israel amounts to well over $140 billion in 2003 dollars. Israel receives about $3 billion in direct foreign assistance each year, which is roughly one-fifth of America 's entire foreign aid budget. In per capita terms, the United States gives each Israeli a direct subsidy worth about $500 per year. This largesse is especially striking when one realizes that Israel is now a wealthy industrial state with a per capita income roughly equal to South Korea or Spain ” (see “If America Knew”: http://www.ifamericaknew.org/stats/usaid.html ). The US spends about $5 billion per year on direct aid to Apartheid Israel with the 1949-2008 period totalling $144 billion (see “A conservative estimate of direct US aid to Israel: almost $114 billion”, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs: http://wrmea.org/component/content/article/245-2008-november/3845-congress-watch-a-conservative-estimate-of-total-direct-us-aid-to-israel-almost-114-billion.html ). The average Israeli population between 1950 and 2010 was 3.746 million and that of the US was 229.8 million and if that largesse had been given to Americans at the same per capita basis it would have amounted to $140 billion x 229.8 million/3.746 million = $8,588 billion = $8.6 trillion. But of course the Neocon and Zionist Establishment of the US regards ordinary Americans as cannon fodder and sources of taxes to support racist Zionist colonizers, the racist Neocon oil agenda and the genocidal, racist Zionist anti-Arab anti-Semitic agenda. .
Below is a catalogue of annual preventable deaths in the US , deaths that could be potentially avoided by preventive medical public education, legislation to ban deadly items (such as guns, alcohol, and tobacco), and more expenditure for equitable medical intervention. It should be noted that some of the preventive measures (e.g. cessation of smoking, cessation of obesity) would have long-term benefits but the requisite measures could have been introduced decades ago but were thwarted by the neo-fascist, corporatist Establishment in the interests of obscene private profit. In addition, some categories overlap e.g. “gun-related deaths” (31,000) overlaps with “suicides” (30,000) and “homicides” (15,000).
1. 31,000 gun-related US deaths annually.
In 2007 there were 31,244 gun-related deaths in the US of which 17,352 were suicides (see “Gun violence in the United States ”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_the_United_States ).
2. 21,000 avoidable under-5 year old US infant deaths annually .
The infant mortality rate in “under-5 deaths per 1,000 births” is 8 for the US (per capita income $46, 790) as compared to 3 for Singapore (per capita income $47, 970) (see WHO: http://www.who.int/countries/en/ ). The US with a per capita income roughly the same as that of Singapore should ideally have the same infant mortality rate. Accordingly the annual avoidable US under-5 infant deaths = 5 deaths per 1,000 births x 4,297 thousand births (2010) = 21,485.
3. 45,000 US deaths annually from lack of medical insurance.
A Harvard University Medical School and Cambridge Health Alliance study, which analyzed data from national surveys carried out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), assessed death rates after taking into account education, income, and many other factors, including smoking, drinking, and obesity. It estimated that lack of health insurance causes 44,789 excess US deaths annually. (see “New study finds 45,000 deaths annually due to lack of health coverage”, Harvard Gazette, 17 February 2012: http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2009/09/new-study-finds-45000-deaths-annually-linked-to-lack-of-health-coverage/ .
4. 21,000 US opiate drug-related deaths annually from US restoration and protection of the Taliban-destroyed Afghan opium industry.
The US Alliance restored the Taliban-destroyed Afghan opium industry from about 6% of world market share in 2001 to 93% in 2007 (see UNODC World Drug Report 2007: http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/WDR-2007.html , the World Drug Report 2009: http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/WDR-2009.html and the World Drug Report, Opium/heroin market, 2009: http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr/WDR_2009/WDR2009_Opium_Heroin_Market.pdf ). According to the UNODC about 0.1 million people die from opiate drug-related causes each year and, with the US Alliance -restored and US Alliance-protected Afghan opium industry responsible for over 90% of world opiate trade, this means about 0.9 x 0.1 million deaths per year x 10.3 years = 0.9 million global deaths due to US Alliance-pushed Afghan opiates. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UN ODC) has stated clearly that "the United States saw 38,400 deaths from illicit drug use in 2006, corresponding to a drug-related mortality rate of 182 deaths per one million inhabitants aged 15-64". 60% of these are due to opiates and of opiate-related deaths 90% are due to US restoration of the Taliban-destroyed Afghan opium industry to about 90% of world market share i.e. 0.6 x 0.9 x 38,400 = 20,740 US opiate drug deaths per annum (pa) and 20,740 x 10.3 = 214,000 US opiate drug deaths since October 2001 due to US restoration of the Taliban-destroyed Afghan opium industry. The corresponding figure for Australia is 3,800 such deaths of Australians linked to the US Alliance and Australian invasion and occupation of Afghanistan (UNODC: http://www.unodc.org/documents/southerncone/Topics_drugs/WDR/2011/Regional_overview_ENG.pdf ) .
5. 33,000Americans killed by motor vehicles each year.
In 2010 32,708 Americans were killed by motor vehicles (see “List of motor vehicle deaths in U.S. by year”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths_in_U.S._by_year ). All-encompassing electric public transport would slash this carnage as well as the huge death toll from vehicle exhaust pollutants (see item #6 below). It would also reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution.
6. 70,000 Americans die annually from air pollution (e.g. from coal burning, vehicle exhaust, carbon burning in general).
According to the US Earth Policy Institute “ In the United States, traffic fatalities total just over 40,000 per year, while air pollution claims 70,000 lives annually. U.S. air pollution deaths are equal to deaths from breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. This scourge of cities in industrial and developing countries alike threatens the health of billions of people. Governments go to great lengths to reduce traffic accidents by fining those who drive at dangerous speeds, arresting those who drive under the influence of alcohol, and even sometimes revoking drivers' licenses. But they pay much less attention to the deaths people cause by simply driving the cars. While deaths from heart disease and respiratory illness from breathing polluted air may lack the drama of deaths from an automobile crash, with flashing lights and sirens, they are no less real. Air pollutants include carbon monoxide, ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulates. These pollutants come primarily from the combustion of fossil fuels, principally coal-fired power plants and gasoline-powered automobiles. Nitrogen oxides can lead to the formation of ground-level ozone. Particulates are emitted from a variety of sources, primarily diesel engines. "Smog"-a hybrid word used to describe the mixture of smoke and fog that blankets some cities-is primarily composed of ozone and particulates.” (see Bernie Fischlowitz-Roberts, “ Air Pollution Fatalities Now Exceed Traffic Fatalities by 3 to 1”, Earth Policy Institute, 17 September 2002: http://www.earth-policy.org/plan_b_updates/2002/update17 ).
7. 75,000 American alcohol-related deaths annually.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that 34,833 Americans died in 2001 from cirrhosis of the liver, cancer and other diseases linked to drinking too much alcohol and another 40,933 died from car crashes and other mishaps caused by excessive alcohol use (see “Alcohol linked to 75,000 American deaths a year”, MSNBC : http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6089353/ns/health-addictions/t/alcohol-linked-us-deaths-year/#.Tz8A1FHaSeI ).
8. 443,000 Americans die from smoking-related causes (roughly 1 in 5 of all deaths and 49,000 or about 10% from passive smoking).
According to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): “Worldwide, tobacco use causes more than 5 million deaths per year, and current trends show that tobacco use will cause more than 8 million deaths annually by 2030. In the United States, tobacco use is responsible for about one in five deaths annually (i.e., about 443,000 deaths per year, and an estimated 49,000 of these smoking-related deaths are the result of secondhand smoke exposure)” (see “Smoking and tobacco us” CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/ ).
9. 30,000 Americans suicide annually, with 1 in 5 being US veterans.
According to a shocking recent report: “ While the government keeps no official tally of veteran suicides, the VA last year said that veterans account for roughly 20 percent of the estimated 30,000 suicides annually in the United States” (see “Concern grows over “epidemic” veteran suicide rate” (see The News Tribune: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/05/26/1680716/concern-grows-over-epidemic-veteran.html ).
10. 300,000 Americans die from obesity-related causes.
Most Americans are overweight and the US Surgeon General states: “An estimated 300,000 deaths per year may be attributable to obesity. The risk of death rises with increasing weight. Even moderate weight excess (10 to 20 pounds for a person of average height) increases the risk of death, particularly among adults aged 30 to 64 years. Individuals who are obese (BMI > 30) have a 50 to 100% increased risk of premature death from all causes, compared to individuals with a healthy weight” (see Office of the Surgeon General, “Overweight and obesity: health consequences”, 11 January 2007: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity/calltoaction/fact_consequences.htm ).
11. 15,000 Americans are violently murdered annually.
There were 14,748 murders in the United States in 2010 this giving a homicide rate of about 48 deaths per million, one of the highest in the world e.g. compare this with 5 ( Norway ), 9 ( Ireland and Germany ), 10 ( Netherlands ), 14 ( UK ), 16 ( France and Scotland ) and 19 ( Canada ). In relation to Neocon American and Zionist Imperialist (NAZI) “terror hysteria” that has driven the genocidal US Alliance Iraq War and Afghan War (about 8.5 million people killed since 2001), “terror” is surely directly proportional to “proportion of people killed”. The actual number of Israelis killed by Gaza rockets and mortars since the start of the Second Intifada was twenty eight (28), this corresponding to a 21st century “annual homicide rate” in units of “persons killed per million per year” of 0.5 (Israelis killed by Gaza missiles) – as compared to 0.25 (Western civilians assertedly killed by Muslim-origin non-state terrorists), 0.5 (rapist Australian husbands murdered by raped wives), 1.0 (Australian violent husbands murdered by battered wives), 14 (Australians dying from opiates linked to US Alliance restoration of the Taliban-destroyed Afghan opium industry); 15 (Israelis murdered by Israelis), 43 (female Australian suicide), 48 (Americans murdered by Americans), 80 (Australian road fatalities), 100 (Americans killed by guns), 164 (Palestinians killed violently by Israelis), 164 (Australian male suicides), 172 (Australian alcohol-related deaths), 200 (African-Americans murdered), 473 (citizens of Detroit, Michigan, USA), 233 (Australians from coal burning-based power pollutants), 257 (Australians from fossil fuel-based power pollutants), 790 (Australian smoking-related deaths), 902 per million per year (annual Palestinian non-violent deaths through war criminal, Geneva Convention-violating, Israeli-imposed deprivation), 2,600 (mainly non-European World excess deaths i.e. avoidable deaths, these being overwhelmingly from deprivation), 4,000 (Occupied Iraq excess deaths), 15,000 (Occupied Afghanistan excess deaths), 18,000 (Indigenous Australian excess deaths), 20,000 (Indigenous Australian excess deaths in the Northern Territory), 22,000 (Indigenous Australian deaths) and 24,000 (Indigenous Australian deaths in the Northern Territory). The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimates that 3,700 Jewish settlers in Palestine were killed by Palestinians since 1920 – in contrast, Palestinian violent deaths since 1936 total 0.1 million and 1.9 million Palestinians have died avoidably in the same period from war-, expulsion- and occupation-imposed deprivation (see “Palestinian Genocide”: https://sites.google.com/site/palestiniangenocide/ and “Boycott Apartheid Israel”: https://sites.google.com/site/boycottapartheidisrael/ ).
The total annual American deaths from preventable causes listed above is 1,084,000 i.e. roughly 1 million Americans die from preventable causes each year in the richest and most powerful country on Earth. This carnage mirrors that in other European US Alliance countries except that these other European countries typically have better public health access and limit access to guns.
The neofascist, corporatist, neocon, pro-Zionist and Zionist American Establishment is effectively killing 1 million Americans each year, carnage that dwarfs the 3,000 killed on 9-11, an atrocity that almost certainly involved the US Government with likely Israeli complicity (see “Experts: US did 9-11”: https://sites.google.com/site/expertsusdid911/home ). Indeed these statistics give the lie to the US Establishment propaganda about the post-9-11 War on Terror to protect Americans from terrorists - 9-11 was almost certainly done by the US Government with likely Israeli complicity and the War on Terror, in addition to killing over 8 million Iraqis and Afghans, has contributed to the preventable deaths of about 10 million ordinary Americans in the last decade, with Hispanic Americans, African-Americans and socio-economically disadvantaged Americans in general disproportionately suffering in this passive mass murder of Americans by the Neocon and Zionist Establishment.
The Tuskegee Institute has recorded that 3,446 blacks and 1,297 whites were lynched between 1882 and 1968 by KKK and their ilk (see “Lynching in the United States ”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynching_in_the_United_States ). This is in stark contrast to the 1 million Americans dying preventably each year and 10 million dying thus in the last decade in a United States dominated by racist Neocons and racist Zionists, traitors who grossly violate the prime requirement of patriotic Americans that they love their fellow Americans. The racist Neocon and Zionist traitors should be sidelined in public life as have been like racists such as the KKK, Nazis, neo-Nazis and Apartheiders. The American 99% must wake up and stop this passive mass murder of 1 million Americans each year by the racist Neocon and racist Zionist Establishment 1%. Tell everyone you can.
Dr Gideon Polya has been teaching science students at a major Australian university for 4 decades. He published some 130 works in a 5 decade scientific career, most recently a huge pharmacological reference text "Biochemical Targets of Plant Bioactive Compounds" (CRC Press/Taylor & Francis, New York & London , 2003). He has published “Body Count. Global avoidable mortality since 1950” (G.M. Polya, Melbourne, 2007: http://globalbodycount.blogspot.com/ ); see also his contributions “Australian complicity in Iraq mass mortality” in “Lies, Deep Fries & Statistics” (edited by Robyn Williams, ABC Books, Sydney, 2007): http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/ockham/stories/s1445960.htm ) and “Ongoing Palestinian Genocide” in “The Plight of the Palestinians (edited by William Cook, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2010: http://mwcnews.net/focus/analysis/4047-the-plight-of-the-palestinians.html ). He has published a revised and updated 2008 version of his 1998 book “Jane Austen and the Black Hole of British History” (see: http://janeaustenand.blogspot.com/ ) as biofuel-, globalization- and climate-driven global food price increases threaten a greater famine catastrophe than the man-made famine in British-ruled India that killed 6-7 million Indians in the “forgotten” World War 2 Bengal Famine (see recent BBC broadcast involving Dr Polya, Economics Nobel Laureate Professor Amartya Sen and others: http://www.open2.net/thingsweforgot/ bengalfamine_programme.html ). When words fail one can say it in pictures - for images of Gideon Polya's huge paintings for the Planet, Peace, Mother and Child see: http://sites.google.com/site/artforpeaceplanetmotherchild/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/gideonpolya/ .
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