I previously encountered a video by a China-based English vlogger where he compared China's public healthcare system vs that of the UK. He shared a personal story of his father, while undergoing a routine lung examination in the UK, was suspected of having an aortic aneurysm (a bulge in the aorta's (the main artery from the heart) wall). If the bulge ruptures, it can be potentially life-threatening.
A month later, his father underwent an ultrasound for further examination. However, he was only able to meet with a doctor six months later to discuss his heart's condition and even then, it was only a telephone appointment, not face-to-face. He then wanted a proper CT scan to obtain a clearer picture of his heart's condition, but was told to wait another five months!
In that five month period, while visiting the vlogger in Guizhou, China, the father shared his ordeal. The vlogger suggested he undergo a scan in one of Guizhou's public hospitals, and the differences between China's public healthcare services vs that of the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) were stark!
On the very same day they went to the Guizhou hospital, his father underwent a proper CT scan, received the results, and met with a doctor shortly after to discuss his condition. There was even enough time to check his kidneys as well. All in one day. Thankfully, the result revealed the aneurysm wasn’t growing at a dangerous rate.
Impressively, this level of speed and efficiency was in a hospital in Guizhou, considered one of the poorer Chinese provinces. Noting this, the vlogger decided to check out a top level smart hospital in Shanghai, one of China’s most advanced regions, for comparison.
He went to Shanghai's Renji Hospital and based on what he saw, it was indeed impressive! In the In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) department for example, you could view footage of the exact moment of conception and the embryo’s growth, which was also available on an app. There were trainee doctors in the operation department using virtual reality to practice realistic scenarios as well as conducting certain procedures and making diagnoses.
In the ICU department, doctors were using a Large Language Model (LLM) as an AI assistant to help them assess medical records, provide 24/7 monitoring, rapid clinical suggestions, and even to assist during surgical operations. All this reduced the doctors’ workload and allowed them to more efficiently provide care.
The vlogger also shared a conference at that hospital featuring hospital directors and medical leaders from other countries who came to find out how all those advanced medical technologies were being applied in real-world scenarios. They were essentially there to gain insight and learn from the Chinese healthcare system so they could apply those ideas back home and improve their own respective healthcare systems.
A question of whether the government prioritizes public healthcare or not
Besides this particular vlog, I’ve also encountered several others of expatriates sharing their experiences of receiving healthcare in China and how impressed they were with its speed, efficiency and affordability compared to back home.
What’s incredible is that this China we’re talking about; the second most populous country in the world with 1.41 billion people! Despite having a gigantic population, their public healthcare system is so efficient that there’s no issue of long waiting periods or delays for important procedures.
All this simply shows how much attention and investment the Chinese government has poured into its public healthcare system, among other essential services. We can surmise that they place high importance on ensuring their people have access to good quality, reliable and affordable healthcare. The question we then need to ask is: If China can do this, why can’t we?
There are several countries in which the public healthcare system has been severely neglected and underfunded. In the US for example, healthcare is dominated by the private sector and healthcare insurance costs are sky-high, thus placing huge financial burdens on those with health problems to the point where some people don’t even bother seeking medical help until their condition has severely deteriorated.
Meanwhile in the UK, one main problem plaguing the NHS is the low number of general practitioners (GPs), which in turn results in long waiting lists for those with health problems to meet their doctors for consultations, and then another prolonged waiting period to either undergo important examinations or the treatment itself, similar to the vlogger’s story above. For those with serious illnesses or diseases, they simply can’t afford to wait that long.
Over here in Malaysia, while the public healthcare situation isn’t that dire compared to other countries, it’s not that far off either, especially if our leaders don't rectify things ASAP. Our public healthcare system has been underfunded these past few decades, resulting in too few public hospitals, insufficient medical equipment, overcrowding at the very few public hospitals we do have as most Malaysians can’t afford the insanely high private healthcare costs, long waiting lists for important diagnostic procedures and treatment, and overworked as well as under-compensated government doctors.
Surrendering people's health to the private sector
Instead of investing responsibly in our public healthcare system decades ago, our leaders essentially allowed the private sector to take over the healthcare sector, among others, and letting private hospitals mushroom all over the country; we have much more private hospitals than public ones. And yet, what’s the point of allowing so many private hospitals if most Malaysians can’t even afford them? Where’s the strategic thinking and wisdom in that??
A recent initiative by the Malaysian government along with the private sector is medical tourism, whereby the government is targeting patients especially from our neighbouring countries to seek healthcare at some of our private hospitals. Can you imagine? Instead of treating healthcare as a basic human right, the government is actively encouraging it to become a tourist and hospitality attraction for the rich!
Comparing the state of healthcare in these countries to that in China, the core factor here is political ideology. To be sure, China is essentially a capitalist country, but its government has made sure that all essential services (housing, healthcare, education, etc) are kept mainly under government control, instead of degraded into profit-making tools by the capitalist class. They have ensured that such services are of good quality and their citizens can affordably access them.
Other countries however, particularly the ones described above, have irresponsibly allowed such essential services to be hijacked by the private sector to be blatantly misused as huge profit-reaping and self-enriching tools. That’s the key difference between the healthcare system in China vs these countries. It makes my blood boil that our leaders have failed to properly invest in and strengthen our respective healthcare systems. We all deserve to have access to good quality, affordable healthcare, nothing less!
We need to demand our respective governments to significantly improve our public healthcare. We should use China as an example and shame our governments, demanding that if China can have such a strong, pro-people healthcare system, why the hell can’t we??
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