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Brown proposes changes in the NHS
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It seems that politicians around the world
are thinking about the health of their countries. While in
China, Chen Zhu has announced his plans for a universal
health service and reform across health services,
Gordon Brown, the UK Prime Minister, has also announced he is
planning to make some changes in our health service.
The crux of Mr Brown's proposals are related to
giving the NHS (National Health Service) a greater focus on
prevention, rather than just curing patients.
He is planning to introduce increased
screening for common diseases such as heart disease, strokes,
and cancer, for example breast cancer. In Britain there are
200,000 deaths a year from heart attacks and strokes, many of
which might have been avoided if the condition had been known
about.
Initially, the diagnostic
tests will be available for those who are most vulnerable, or
most likely to have the disease, but later on the Prime Minister
claims that they will be more widely available. One example is a
plan to offer all men over 65 an ultrasound test to check for
problems with the main artery, a condition which kills 3,000
men a year.
The opposition have criticised Mr
Brown's proposals, saying that they are just a gimmick, and
claiming that there is no proper timetable for the changes.
They also say that Mr Brown is reducing the money available for the
treatment of certain conditions while putting more money towards
testing for them.
The NHS was founded in 1948, and is paid for by
taxation. The idea is that the rich pay more towards the health
service than the poor. However in recent years there has been a
great increase in the use of private healthcare.
Many people who can afford it choose to pay for
medical care, often because it can be quicker, although the doctors
and hospitals are often the same! NHS waiting lists for
operations can be very long, so people can jump the queue by
paying for their operation.
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