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Comment by drchewbacca | Hacker News Reader

In the UK we have the NHS and it is so great. There's waiting lists but basically you never worry about healthcare, it's always there when you need it and it's all (pretty much) free at the point of use. It's almost certainly the best thing we've got.

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Sound like the NHS has some work to do on cancer treatment though: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/09/13/britains-dire-ca...

I imagine if the story is credible, the issues wouldn't just be with cancer treatment.

It's almost certainly the best thing we've got.

It’s sort of the national religion that the NHS is “the envy of the world” but it’s really only the envy of the US. Ask any French or German or Egyptian if they are envious of it...

> It’s sort of the national religion that the NHS is “the envy of the world” but it’s really only the envy of the US

I am from Mexico and I envy the NHS. I have had the necessity of using the Health system in NHS, IMSS (Mexico) and Gesetzliche Krankenversicherung (Germany), and from the 3 of them, I will choose the NHS with my eyes closed.

We should probably have something like the an optional "free" government run facility for nose bleeds, sprained ankles, and Viagra prescriptions in the US, but I'll keep my privately funded health care for real problems, thanks.

I don't even see the UK on these lists.

CT Scanners: https://www.statista.com/statistics/266539/distribution-of-e...

MRI Machines: https://www.statista.com/statistics/282401/density-of-magnet...

Perhaps the UK should be on the list, but somewhere near the bottom:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2672902/Deadly-shor...

Did you not notice the bit where the top two countries on the CT scanner list have "free" government run facilities?

I wouldn't recommend quoting the dailymail for anything of any use beyond a laugh. They have a deadly shortage of journalism.

Haha, seriously, that's your argument?

Granted it's from 2014, but are you disputing the following facts as reported then?

"The report shows the UK has only 5.9 MRI units per million people, less than half the OECD average of 13.3."

"On CT scanners we are 30th out of 32 countries, in front of only Hungary and Mexico. The numbers concern only NHS scanners."

The source is irrelevant.

Yes, because machine number doesn't correlate to machine availability. US wait times are often worse than UK wait times for healthcare[0]. Also, would I actually trust facts reported by the dailymail, known for being inaccurate and misleading, especially in matters of science or health?

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/aug/25/gp-appointme...

The question is how many scanners do you really need? The US has a lot of them for profit reasons not necessarily for health reasons.

"The US has a lot of them for profit reasons not necessarily for health reasons."

You seem to suggest that having the availability of life saving equipment is BAD if a profit is being made, but a lack of life saving equipment is GOOD if no profit is being made.

I am not suggesting that.

Iatrogenics is a thing

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