Health care, or healthcare, whichever expression you prefer, is the prevention, intervention and management of illness using the services offered by the medical, nursing and allied health professions. Even so, The WHO believes the meaning should also incorporate all related industries and be a service available to everyone irrespective of who they, which means people as well as whole groups of individuals. Any collective group of medical professionals and services dedicated to providing this would be termed a healthcare system.
The expression health care has not always been used though and prior to this is it was often just referred to medicine or the health sector but this was utilized more by English speaking nations. Most developed and even developing countries have a system of health care for all to cater for those who cannot pay. This first begun in the United Kingdom a few years after the end of World War 2 in 1948, and became the first health care service set up and run by a government.
In Italy, they have a system that works by making everyone pay into a government funded insurance scheme which The World Health Organization consider the second best healthcare system in the world. Canada and Australia have both started similar systems and have been running since almost twenty and the 1970’s respectively both going by the name of Medicare. All the same, these systems of health care where everyone benefits from a administration based service contrast starkly with those in America where almost all healthcare is paid for through the provision of insurance schemes or privately. healthcare professionals are dedicated to preventing illness and disease mainly, but also to treat and protect the long expression health of their patients.
The healthcare industry is one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing industries generally consuming at least ten percent of gross domestic product of most developed countries, health care can form an enormous part of a country’s economy. The United States bucks this trend with, back in 2003, a health industry responsible or over 15 percent of gross domestic product but this is anticipated to rise considerably by 2016 when it will almost one fifth of America GDP.
This fact is highlighted by the large number of American citizens who have serious concerns about their health care, around 180 million to be precise, and the main worry for anyone seeking employment in The United States. Numerous large companies in The United States are feeling the effects of these rises in healthcare provision and an extreme case was where the car giant General Motors was seriously considering bankruptcy because of it. In this instance some hard Union negotiations, compromises and the closing down of their finance arm GMAC meant this action wasn’t required.
Workers in America place this as their number one priority when looking for a prospective employer and often will move to a lower paid position just to better their medical care. Maybe it is time healthcare was looked at in a different way and perhaps called health preservation with an emphasis on fitness and health to ease the need for a top heavy health care system which is becoming a world-wide issue.