The Cost of Caring

In Malawi, one child in four dies before reaching the age of 5 compared with 1 in 150 in the UK (World Health Report)

In the UK, there is one doctor for every 600 people whilst in Yemen, there is only one doctor for every 10,000 people. (World Health Report)

Every day about 365,000 babies are born worldwide and 140,000 people die. (World Health Report)

On average, each person in the UK is prescribed drugs to the value of £118 each year.

In Ethiopia, the total annual expenditure on healthcare is £10 per person. (World Health Report)

Last year, there were 5,032 accidents treated in hospital of people who fell off a horse. 48,249 people of various ages were treated in hospital following skateboarding or rollerblading accidents. (Home Accident Surveillance Report)

The number of General Practitioners has risen from 48 to 61 per 100,000 population in the past 25 years. (OHE)

3.4 million people in the UK now have asthma. The number of children with asthma has doubled in the last decade.

Every 12 minutes a child is admitted to hospital with asthma.

Every six hours someone dies of an asthma attack. (National Asthma Campaign)

Each year, 10 million children aged under 5 die from preventable diseases, 97% of them in developing countries.

At least 2 million deaths could be prevented by existing vaccines. (World Health Report)

50,000 children in Britain look after a relative who is ill or disabled.

Between 1989 and 1999, the number of whole-time equivalent nursing and midwifery staff working in NHS hospitals fell 17% whilst their caseload increased by 66% (OHE Compendium of Health Statistics)

The gross cost of the NHS in the year 2000 was £57 billion compared with £52 billion the previous year, whilst total health care expenditure was £67 billion, representing 7.1% of GDP.

Most developing countries spend less than 5% of GDP on healthcare (HM Treasury)

In the next 30 years, the UK is expected to see a large increase in the so-called dependency ratio (number of under 15s and over 65s per 100 working age) from 54 to 66 (Offi ce of Health Economics)

An estimated 100,000 children under 16 run away from home or care every year in the UK.

2.8 million hours of home help and care are provided to around 380,000 household every year.

At least 176,000 legal abortions were performed in England and Wales in 2000.

The church in the UK runs over 141,000 community projects.

Nearly 6 million of us are treated in the accident and emergency departments of UK NHS hospitals every year.

At least one in eight visits follow a sports-related accident. (Home Accident Surveillance Report)

Average life expectancy for men and women in the UK is now 72 years whilst in Uganda and Zimbabwe it is 32 years. (World Health Report)

The number of available NHS hospital beds in the UK has fallen from 8.8 to 4.1 per 1,000 population in the past 25 years. (OHE)