Do you think that we can convince other countries to have the NHS?

Rebecca Moon answered on 5 Jun 2019:

The NHS is fab. Lots of other countries do offer free health service for all too although not called the NHS. Many developing countries simply cannot afford the luxury of healthcare as we know it though as the funding for the NHS has to come from somewhere – our taxes. It would be nice if everyone across the world had feely accessible healthcare for all.

Nina Rzechorzek answered on 5 Jun 2019:

This is a tough one – I think many other countries admire, respect, and are (perhaps) envious of our NHS, and they use it as benchmark for their own healthcare practices and standards. However there are many challenges facing the NHS, and other countries are aware of this. I think this will ultimately depend on what resources other countries can afford to invest in healthcare, and our own NHS has to make difficult decisions all the time about how to best spend money and use resources. I think the key thing is for different countries to keep an open mind, and keep talking to each other, so that when something works well (and there is clear evidence for this), it can be rolled out in other healthcare systems for the benefit of all patents, regardless of borders.

Shobhana Nagraj answered on 5 Jun 2019:

Apologies in advance for the really long answer – but I am quite passionate about this!
I think the NHS is amazing and I would love it if we could have similar health systems in other places!
The NHS has been shown to top many countries for the healthcare it provides – for information on how the NHS compares to other health systems, there is an article from the Commonwealth fund from 2014 (look closely at the table half way down, which shows how the NHS comes 1st in the world overall for most health outcome measures like access to care and quality of care):
https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/fund-reports/2014/jun/mirror-mirror-wall-2014-update-how-us-health-care-system

Based on these statistics, it should make it easier to convince others of the value of the NHS! Another really wonderful thing about the NHS is that it rests on the values of providing healthcare free of charge at the point of contact, to everyone regardless of race, gender, ability to pay, and follows the principles of Universal Health Coverage (UHC). UHC means that everyone, everywhere is entitled to health care as a basic human right. It builds upon a very important declaration called the Alma Ata declaration in 1978 (read more here: http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/113877/E93944.pdf)
It can be hard to achieve UHC worldwide, as healthcare costs a lot of money, but there are systems like the NHS in other countries, which have shown that it is possible to achieve UHC, and I remain hopeful that we can achieve this!
Most recently this year, the World Health Organisation reinforced their commitment to providing Universal Health Coverage to the world at the recent World Health Assembly in Geneva. The World Health Organisation has committed itself to improve health and protect the poorest in society.
I work in countries where some people cannot afford to pay for their healthcare and operations and die as a result. It is heart-breaking to see this, which is why I really believe in providing free healthcare to everyone as a human right.

Marianne King answered on 6 Jun 2019:

I’m not sure! I think a lot of countries would love to have universal and free at the point of use healthcare but it probably isn’t feasible for everyone, particularly in poorer countries. I had a colleague from the US who I worked with in a hospital who found the NHS completely bizarre. She couldn’t imagine hospitals not existing to make a profit (I might have got a bit defensive about this…). It showed me how varied attitudes can be to the NHS.

David Wilson answered on 6 Jun 2019:

I don’t think it’s really our job to tell other countries how they should run their healthcare systems but if they look at the NHS and aspire to have a similar system then that’s a pretty big complement. Our healthcare system isn’t perfect but I believe that if your in the privileged position where you can help someone, you should.

Matthew Bareford answered on 6 Jun 2019:

I think that in terms of convincing them to have the NHS, this would be very difficult. Some other countries already have a free healthcare system, or have partially free healthcare systems, so in essence they have already adopted the NHS model, or at least part of it.

The NHS is great, as it creates free healthcare for all, but in countries who don’t already have it, this would mean that they would face higher taxes, as that is how it is paid for within our own system. Unfortunately in poorer countries the people simply cannot afford this so that would make it unfeasible. In those that can, due to the economical value of their healthcare systems, if they adopted the NHS, then this could affect their economy and then affect a lot of other areas in their lives…

Each country would have to adopt the best healthcare system suited to them, however, that is not to say that we shouldn’t be championing our NHS and its system of free healthcare but convincing other countries to adopt it isn’t always that simple..

Kate Timms answered on 6 Jun 2019:

If everyone in the world had access to healthcare which is “free at the point of care” like the NHS, then the world would be a much healthier place! Unfortunately lots of countries cannot afford (or don’t want to afford) a national health service. Other countries like the USA don’t seem to want one. As a country, they would rather pay lower taxes all the time and lots whenever they need treatment. This leads to lots of health inequalities in the USA, especially in less advantaged communities. Unfortunately, I think it would be very difficult to convince them to have something like the NHS, even though it would help lots of people!

Thiloka Ratnaike answered on 6 Jun 2019:

I think the world would be a better place for having more countries with a NHS like ours! Like Rebecca states- it very much depends on the tax system and what the public are willing to put into it as well. I wholeheartedly agree with Shobhana about the value of the NHS. It requires a concerted effort on the parts of the government, the public and the people who provide the care to keep it ticking over the way it has done, and perhaps some countries may not have the backing of one or more of these parts to go for a NHS sadly.

Lorena Boquete Vilarino answered on 7 Jun 2019:

I love the NHS! I’m from Spain and we have something similar – free universal healthcare, although we pay more from prescriptions. I think the UK is really lucky to have the NHS, I wish some people in the UK would appreciate it a bit more. However, healthcare systems need taxes to pay for them and some countries either can’t afford or don’t want to implement high taxes. I do think it is absolutely necessary and worth it, but not everyone thinks the same

Kaitlin Wade answered on 7 Jun 2019:

I really hope so but we need to make sure that our current NHS has the resources it needs to make it the NHS that helps everyone equally and without strain.

Shonna Johnston answered on 8 Jun 2019:

I’m not sure we should persuade other countries to have the NHS. Each country should do what works best for them.
I recently attended a seminar about eye care in India and it was fascinating to see how a new eye care centre was able to grow by working to the strengths of its region both technically and culturally. To the point where they are now providing contact lenses to other countries and reinvesting back to their community.

Question: Do you think that we can convince other countries to have the NHS?

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