Gesundheit!

Often when I visit Israel, people keep on going about the wonderful educational system that my home country has. How come the kids are so smart and always top the PISA tests, what's our secret? I don't have an answer to this question. I guess we are just doing something right, for change.

Another topic often discussed is health care, and here I've had a gut feeling Finland has not got a lot to boast about comparing to Israel. A recent study by Bloomberg proves my concerns right: the health care system built in the 1970s in Finland doesn't serve the country today anymore. It is inefficient, complicated and expensive.

Finland was ranked 23rd the Bloomberg study, losing to countries like Thailand, Poland, Libya and Mexico. These are countries most Finns would like to regard as "lower grade" countries comparing to Finland... Poorer living standard, GDP, infrastructure etc. Ouch - not quite so in every aspect! Israel topped the study and was placed 4th - beating all European countries.

There was an article in a local newspaper a while back how our health care services should be sold to the Russians. They are often seeking treatment outside their own country, and the proximity to this vast market and (relatively) high quality of health care would impose an opportunity to Finland to make an extra buck. The article also mentioned that many Russians actually fly currently to Israel for medical treatment, obvious reasons being firstly, they need no visa to enter Israel and secondly, the quality of medical care is top-notch.

Even though this study doesn't reveal the entire truth, I do think that Finland could have something to learn from Israel. Read an article related to the study here.