How does the NHS compare to US healthcare?

As Barack Obama fights to change the system, we asked - when it comes to treatment - is US healthcare any worse than the NHS? See how they compare to other countries, too

The NHS has become the butt of increasingly outlandish political attacks in the US as Republicans and conservative campaigners rail against Britain's "socialist" system as part of a tussle to defeat Barack Obama's proposals for broader government involvement in healthcare.

But how does the US compare? We've looked at some key indicators on healthcare, from countries in the G8 - plus Cuba and China, thanks to the World Health Organisation.

Take a look and let us know what you can do with them.

• DATA: download the full data on healthcare as a spreadsheet

How the NHS compares

Country	Per capita spending on health ($)	Doctors per 10,000 pop	Nurses and midwives per 10,000 pop	Hospital beds per 10,000 pop	Life expect. at birth
United States	6719	26	94	31	78
United Kingdom	2815	23	128	39	80
Russian Federation	698	43	85	97	66
Japan	2581	21	95	140	83
Italy	2631	37	72	39	82
Germany	3465	34	80	83	80
France	3420	34	80	73	81
Cuba	674	59	74	49	78
China	216	14	10	22	74
Canada	3673	19	101	34

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2009/aug/12/nhs-us-healthcare-obama