The World's Health Care Crisis

Book excerpt: At present, human society is facing a health care crisis that is affecting patients worldwide. In the United States, it is generally believed that the major problem is lack of affordable access to health care (i.e. health insurance). This book takes an unprecedented approach to address this issue by proposing that the major problem is not lack of affordable access to health care per se, but lack of access to better, safer, and more affordable medicines. The latter problem is present not only in the United States and the developing world but also in countries with socialized health care systems, such as Europe and the rest of the industrialized world. This book provides a comparative analysis of the health care systems throughout the world and also examines the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. - Examines the health care structure of the United States, Europe, and the third world, both separately and comparatively - Offers primary source insight through in-depth interviews with pharmaceutical and health care industry leaders from around the world - Carefully explains, in clear terms, the intricacies of the health care and pharmaceutical system and how these intricacies have led to the current crisis - Offers concrete, comprehensive solutions to the health care crisis