Credit: Seoul National University Hospital.
According to a recent cross-national study by Yale University and Vassar College, South Korea had the lowest mortality rate from cancer while having the lowest per capita medical expense among 22 high-income countries.
In South Korea, 75.5 persons out of 100k died from cancer, significantly below the average of 91.4 per 100k. (Denmark had the highest cancer mortality rate with 113.7 per 100k.) Meanwhile, Korea had USD 2.6k per capita in total healthcare spending, just over half of the 22-country average of USD 5.1k and a quarter of the United States’ USD 10.9k.
Specifically as to cancer, however, South Korea spent USD 250 per capita, or the eighth highest among the surveyed countries - which indicates that the Korean healthcare system treats most diseases efficiently while dedicating much of its resources to catastrophic illnesses like cancer.
