[Retric]

Japan has a lot of welfare fraud which inflates their life expectancy numbers. It also has a fairly low level of income inequality relative to their per capita GDP which helps things. (AKA few poor people.) And to top it off universal healthcare which significantly increases a population’s life expectancy.

Edit: Arguably the high food prices reduce obesity which is really important.

[veidr]

> Arguably the high food prices reduce obesity which is really important

I don't think it's the food prices, because the cheapest foods tend to be the ones that lead to obesity (among other health problems). Fast food burgers and white bread are not expensive here in Japan, but fresh fruits and vegetables are.

I think there are many factors, but the pretty great universal health care system has to be a big one. As a working adult in Tokyo, I receive tons of preventative care and thorough annual check ups. It's cheap, and virtually all health care for my kids is completely free until they turn 15.

The lack of equal access to health care in the USA is almost certainly a reason that poor people die 5 years earlier than affluent people[1]. I would guess good access to health care is a big reason that Cuba does so well on that front, despite its obvious economic obstacles.

[1]: http://news.rice.edu/2012/06/21/poorer-us-citizens-live-five...

[michaelbuddy]

my experience in Japan is they eat more vegetables more often. I think this helps in so many ways. They also eat too much salt, smoke too much and probably work too many hours, but apparently the vegetables and great tea are doing something right.

[rgbrenner]

You're focusing too much on Japan. Japan was just an example. This number that Cuba excels on has little relation to health. So what is the point that Cuba has this great number? It's just a number.

Canada, which has even fewer physicians, has a life expectancy only 2 years less than Japan.

[Retric]

Ehh, just pointing out that having more doctors is not that important from a public heath perspective. Plenty of people in the US for example only really see/need a doctor at birth for vaccinations and then suddenly die in there late 80's or early 90's. For much the same reasons that some people actually lived into there late 90's 2000+ years ago.

If nothing breaks there is little need to fix anything.