| Government researchers now note that more than 1.5 million Ontarians can't find family physicians. These problems are not unique to Canada – they characterise all government-run health care systems, says David Gratzer, a physician and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. For example: - More than 1 million Britons must wait for some type of care, with 200,000 in line for longer than six months; one cancer patient tried to get an appointment with a specialist, only to have it cancelled – 48 times.
- In France, the supply of doctors is so limited that during an August 2003 heat wave – when many doctors were on vacation and hospitals were stretched beyond capacity – 15,000 elderly citizens died.
Despite this situation, a growing number of prominent Americans are arguing that socialised health care still provides better results for less money. One often-heard argument is that America lags behind other countries in crude health outcomes, namely life expectancy. But this statistic can be misleading, says Gratzer: - Americans live 75.3 years on average, fewer years than Canadians (77.3) or the French (76.6) or the citizens of any Western European nation save Portugal.
- Health care influences life expectancy, of course, but a life can end because of a murder, a fall or a car accident.
- Such factors aren't academic – homicide rates in the United States are much higher than in other countries.
And if we measure a health care system by how well it serves its sick citizens, American medicine excels. | Consider the five-year cancer survival rates: - For leukemia, the American survival rate is almost 50 per cent; the European rate is just 35 per cent.
- For esophageal carcinoma, the American survival rate is 12 per cent; the European rate is just 6 per cent.
- For prostate cancer, the American survival rate is 81.2 per cent; in France, it is 61.7 per cent; and in England, it is down to just 44.3 per cent in England – a striking variation.
Source: David Gratzer, A Canadian Doctor Describes How Socialized Medicine Doesn't Work, Investor's Business Daily, July 27, 2007. For text: http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=270338135202343”> http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=270338135202343 For more on Health Issues: http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_Category=16”> http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_Category=16 Health Policy Unit Bulletin/ 21 Aug 2007 |
