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なかなかよい日本の医療制度
社会派のドキュメンタリー映画で次々と物議をかもすマイケル・ムーア監督の最新"Sicko"は、カナダや英国との比較において、アメリカの医療制度の欠点を鋭く突く作品だが、比較の対象として日本を入れるべきではなかったのかと、筆者は指摘する。
Not so 'Sicko'
Later this month, "Sicko," the latest film from Oscar-winning (and controversial) documentary-maker Michael Moore, will make its way to Japan. Known for classics like "Fahrenheit 9/11," Moore's latest film is a brilliantly constructed indictment of the glaring flaws in the American healthcare system.
Moore is a very left-leaning liberal. Regular readers of this column should know by now that I'm definitely not. I often disagree with key points of his movies, but I must confess that my opinion is usually tempered by the fact that Moore and I grew up in the same town, and went to the same high school (in Davison, Michigan).
I found a very powerful message in "Sicko." It was simply heart-rending to watch one scene where a hospital literally dumps an old patient on a city sidewalk because she cannot pay for her treatment. He makes it all too clear that the U.S. healthcare system has deep flaws.
He points out how, in 2000, the World Health Organization (WHO) rated the United States for "health system performance" a mere No. 37 in the world. He also compares the United States to Canada, Britain, France and Cuba (of all places), showing how people get better and cheaper care in those countries. It definitely leaves a big impression on you when you listen to former patients in those countries explain how they didn't have to pay anything for their care.
To me, however, perhaps the movie's biggest flaw was that Moore didn't compare Japan's system. Maybe it's because patients here have to pay a small portion of the costs for care themselves. The comparison wouldn't have made as big an impact on viewers as showing a "free" country, no doubt. Still, that didn't stop the WHO from being impressed by Japan's healthcare system.
In the same "health system performance" chart that ranks the U.S. system as No. 37, Japan comes in at No. 10 (No. 1 is France, followed by Italy). But if you look over the WHO report, you can find another table of data that's more comprehensive which Moore didn't use. That's "overall health system attainment." This chart compares not only each country's healthcare system, but also how healthy a country's people are and how "responsive" it is to citizens' healthcare needs. On this broad benchmark, Japan is ranked a solid No. 1 in the world.
And frankly, this doesn't surprise me at all. I've spent far more time in hospitals in Japan than I'd prefer to, between my daughter's severe congenital problems and my wife's various illnesses. But almost universally, I've been extremely happy with the care we've received, and it's been at very reasonable cost.
Japan's mass media loves to raise a stink when a doctor or hospital makes a mistake that kills or cripples somebody. But that happens everywhere in the world, and always will. Doctors are only human after all. It's always a mistake to judge something from isolated anecdotes rather than a comprehensive, "big picture" viewpoint.
And while it has a few warts, there's a lot to love about Japan's medical system. If Michael Moore comes to Japan to promote his film and happens to get sick, perhaps he'll find some good material for the sequel ..
The statistics mentioned here can be found at:http://www.who.int/entity/whr/2000/en/
whr00_annex_en.pdf
- Sicko
- 病んでいる人やもの。マイケル・ムーア監督の新作映画のタイトルでもある
- make its way to 〜
- 〜にやってくる
- classics
- 一流の作品
- "Fahrenheit 9/11"
- 『華氏911』(2004年)
- brilliantly
- 素晴らしく
- indictment
- 告発
- glaring
- 明白な
- flaws
- 欠陥
- healthcare system
- 保険医療制度
- left-leaning
- 左寄りの
- (is)tempered by 〜
- 〜によって和らげられる
- heart-rending
- やるせない
- dumps 〜
- 〜を捨てる
- patient
- 患者
- treatment
- 治療
- World Health Organization
- 世界保健機関
- performance
- 実績
- compares 〜 to 〜
- 〜を〜と比べる
- of all places
- こともあろうに
- portion
- 部分
- comparison
- 比較
- wouldn't have made as big an impact on viewers as 〜
- 見る人に〜ほどの大きな衝撃は与えなかっただろう
- chart
- 表
- table
- 表
- comprehensive
- 包括的な
- overall
- 全体的な
- health system
- 医療制度
- attainment
- 到達度
- responsive
- 敏感な
- benchmark
- 基準
- solid
- 確固とした
- frankly
- 率直に言って
- congenital
- 先天性の
- universally
- 一般的に
- raise a stink
- 大騒ぎする
- cripples 〜
- 〜に障害を残す
- isolated anecdotes
- 個々の逸話
- big picture
- 全体的な
- warts
- 欠点
- sequel
- 続編