Canada health spending does not provide access

A study of Canada's universal-access health care system by the Vancouver, Canada-headquartered think-tank the Fraser Institute has concluded that the government's spending is high compared with other countries but the results are poor. A consequence for Canadian patients is long delays for treatment and restricted access to new drugs.

Nadeem Esmail, a co-author of How Good is Canadian Health Care? An International Comparison of Health Care Systems, 2006 Report, said: "Canada spends more on health care than any industrialized country other than Iceland when spending is adjusted for age and population. But despite the significant sums of money we throw at our health care system, we wind up with longer waiting times and inferior access to technology and physicians."

Dr Esmail, who is also the Fraser Institute's director of health system performance, explained that the study was carried out by comparing 12 indicators of access to health care and outcomes from all members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Mexico and the USA were excluded from the analysis on the grounds that neither country has universal access and a single government-funded health care provider.