The statements in this article are based on reliable sources and are repeated at the end of this article
"China is too efficient!"
Sitting on a hospital bed, a Canadian man said that he had flown to Hangzhou to see a doctor, and praised the doctors and nurses here for their humanity.
According to a report by the Qianjiang Evening News on April 22, this old man is 75 years old, and this is the second time he has "flew" to China for treatment.
And in the interview, he also said that he would come to China for the next medical visit.
However, many developed countries like Canada have implemented universal free medical care, which is enviable, why does this old man go to China to see a doctor?
In fact, not only this old man, but also tens of thousands of Russians go to Heilongjiang every year to see a doctor, and in 2019, data showed that more than 300,000 foreigners from neighboring countries had visited Yunnan for treatment.
So this makes people curious, why has Chinese medical care suddenly become a sweet spot in the eyes of foreigners?
01
Canadian medical care in the mouth of the old man
For medical care in Canada, the old man's words can be summed up in only two words: slow and expensive.
The old man's name is Michelle, he just retired a few years ago, and he lived in China for a period of time before, and the reason why he admires the mainland's medical system so much has a lot to do with an operation before he returned to China.
In 2016, because of venous thrombosis in the lower limbs that had plagued him for more than 20 years, the old man found a hospital in Hangzhou, where the doctor found that he had an incorrect index and recommended another doctor to him.
After the examination, the old man was diagnosed with prostate cancer, but fortunately, the operation went smoothly, and he was discharged from the hospital in only 6 days.
The same surgery is done in Canada, and when the queue is almost cold, in China it will be a few days.
This undoubtedly shocked the old man, the key is that the doctors and nurses here also pay attention to the feelings of the patients, and they will come to see it every 2 hours, it is so warm!
In this way, the old man has become a die-hard fan of the hospital, and his relatives and friends will recommend this hospital whenever he has a headache and brain fever.
At the beginning of 2023, the old man had chronic pancreatitis, so he came here for treatment again, at that time he did ERCP surgery, and the operation effect was good, but the treatment of this disease is a long-term process.
In the 1-2 cycle, the old man needs to replace the pancreatic duct stent every six months, which makes him feel a little headache, because he will retire next month and return to his hometown, but what about the subsequent treatment?
Fortunately, Dr. Lou told him at that time that this operation was mainly difficult when the stent was placed for the first time, and then the replacement was much simpler and could be completed locally in Canada.
Who knew that the old man came again half a year later, and when asked about the reason, he said that the surgery alone would take a year and a half to make an appointment, and he couldn't afford to wait.
His old sister sprained her knee, and no one took care of her all day, so she had to go home by herself and apply ice, thinking that China is still reliable, and April this year is the second time he has come to China to see a doctor.
02
The free medical trap of the West
In Canada, which is vast and sparsely populated, and has always been known as free medical care for all, this old man said that he can't afford to queue up for medical treatment, the medical expenses are too expensive, and it is cost-effective to go to China to see a doctor, is it really fake?
Over the years, we have heard a lot about the high welfare benefits of the West, especially in the areas of childbirth and medical care, and many people in China have expressed envy of this.
In fact, not only domestic, but also many countries in the world have a fan of Western countries, thinking that they are good everywhere, and almost arrange people from birth to death, so many people are willing to immigrate to Western countries.
However, the ultra-high national treatment in the West was originally based on the early plundering of capital, and such a welfare system is like a castle in the air, which looks gorgeous but faces the danger of collapsing at any time.
The excessively generous welfare system has made young people more and more lazy, lacking a certain sense of responsibility for both their families and society, and the country's economy has stagnated.
For them, even if they become poor, they will have the government to cover them, which also contributes to people's dependence on government welfare and increases the financial pressure on the government.
In Canada, for example, the provinces here basically implement universal health insurance, and it is precisely because of this that most of the local hospitals are public.
Because private hospitals are not covered by medical insurance, most people choose public hospitals when they get sick, and this also compresses the space of private hospitals to a large extent.
But the public hospitals here are not much better, because they are non-commercial, it can almost be said that they do not make money, most of the funds come from government grants, of which citizens' taxes account for the lion's share, and the doctors' money is not issued by the hospital, but from the medical insurance system, plus their work is relatively stable, so their work efficiency is also relatively low.
This kind of universal health insurance itself has a wide coverage, coupled with the free nature, Canada's health insurance expenditure is naturally increasing, but the funding is still limited, so it is impossible to put too high requirements on the work of doctors to make people die and treat patients.
In addition, because it is difficult to obtain a medical license here, the number of doctors is not too large, so it can be said that there is a considerable shortage of doctors.
The number of doctors is small and the health insurance system is complex, so patients often have to wait a long time when making an appointment with a doctor.
A typical victim is Inez, a young mother. She made an appointment with the doctor a few years ago, but she didn't get in line until two years later, when she was terminally cancerous.
This almost made her feel hopeless, but she had no choice but to make a new appointment with a psychiatrist to give herself a good attitude to spend the rest of her time.
But what makes her even more unacceptable is that even this has to wait until 7 months later, which shows the low efficiency of medical care in Canada.
Whether it is medical expenses or inefficiency, they are ultimately passed on to ordinary people.
03
epilogue
In addition to Canada, New Zealand is also in a similar dilemma, which is also a notoriously high-welfare state, with a high maternity and pension system, and a slow pace of life, where you can have fun and rest, but never get sick.
According to data from the New Zealand Ministry of Health, by September 2023, nearly 60,000 people have been queuing for more than 4 months, and some patients have recovered themselves and have not yet been in line.
I can't think of this kind of thing in China, delay a little longer, time is life, how many people delay.
We also have free medical care for all in the goose next door, but similar to the above countries, this expenditure is too huge, at present, these medical care only involve some basic medical services, those out of the range of color ultrasound, MRI, etc. have to pay for their own money to go to private hospitals, this money naturally spends more, so a considerable number of people choose to come to China to see a doctor, here is not only fast, the price is also cheap, sometimes plus the cost of travel is smaller than the cost of seeing a doctor in their own country.
Moreover, the people there have to see a doctor nearby, because there are not many grassroots clinics, and many times they have to queue up, sometimes they have to wait for half a month.
It is no wonder that in recent years, more and more foreigners have chosen to come to China for medical treatment, such as Mr. Michelle.
Reference Sources:
Qianjiang Evening News April 22, 2024 Shao Yi has been in the past 30 years丨Canadian friends have come to Hangzhou for treatment many times, "I will come to China next time, even if I have to fly halfway around the world"
Southern Weekly May 20, 2019 Free Health Care for All in Canada: Utopia and Reality
China Economic Net December 15, 2016 Every year, 20,000 Russians come to our province to see traditional Chinese medicine
China News August 16, 2019 In 2018, a total of 350,000 foreigners from neighboring countries went to Yunnan for medical treatment
Globo October 20, 2013 Is free medical care a pie or a trap The queue for medical treatment in Russia has been up to two weeks