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[…] my complete post over at the World Health Care Blog. Posted in WorldHealthCareBlog, Globalization, China, […]

The idea of the United States turning healthcare into “soft power” is a non-starter so long as there are ideologues calling the shots in Washington, D.C. I’m not talking about political or social partisanship here, I’m talking about the deliberate and systematic undermining of scientific fact to promote an agenda.

This is more obvious in some places than others (global warming, stem cell research, abstinence-only AIDS prevention programs), but is equally entrenched in the U.S. approach to healthcare. Study after study shows that the Untied States spends more and receives less than any other industrialized nation on healthcare but few public leaders (and virtually none with any real power) are willing to address the failure of the “free market” approach employed here to even begin addressing the issue.

Some goods and services have no business being generated or controlled by the private sector and healthcare is one of them. Until the United States acknowledges and competently implements some degree of regulation over the whole of the healthcase sector, it not only has no business trying to influence the healthcare systems of other nations, it has no competency even if invited to do so.

We must get our own house in order if we’re to lead by example.

[…] Fred Fortin’s discussion of “Soft Power” suggests the potential for the US to lead by example in the healthcare arena, whereas it has lost influence to a significant degree in other areas, thanks to dropping behind on environmental issues and championing democracy.  Given the amount of money the US spends in healthcare, and its leadership in technology applied thereto, the potential might seem great. […]

[…] for the projection of America’s ’soft power’ in the world (see my previous posts here and […]

[…] since we’ve been blogging about healthcare as America’s potential new source of soft power, how fitting it is that Germany and the UK today launched a plan to improve developing […]

What are your qualifications, Fred Fortin?

Thanks,

“The Wei”

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