As I understand it Australia, like many European nations and Canada have socialized health care. The majority of Americans see socialized health care as a step backwards. This is proven daily in the influx of people from nations with socialized health care coming to the US to receive health care that are unavailable in their own countries. The only reason health care would be out of reach of any American would not be financial, it would be educational. When Jonathan was young, and Linda got pregnant again, we about as poor as you could be and not be homeless, we still had regular doctor visits with the Pediatric Endocrinologist, and since the chance of having another CAH child was significant enough, Linda’s obstetrician was the most expensive fertility specialist in Tulsa, and paid for completely by Medicaid. So it’s unfair to call American health care "not strong" obviously it works very well.

The problem with a system like in Vietnam and other countries where there is no effort to provide health care to the indigent, is that there is a specific demographic that has no access to the health care they need. But in countries with socialized health care, the same problem exists, but is simply shifted to a different demographic. Take the following cases for example:

From Globe and Mail...

As a retired carpenter who barely covers his monthly expenses, Raymond Bouchard was delighted to learn that he qualified to receive a free drug to treat the cancer that is killing him.

But Health Canada won’t release Thalomid to him because a licensed alternative is available -- it just happens to come with a $35,000 price tag....

[Health Canada spokeswoman Jirina] Vlk said Health Canada is aware that Velcade is expensive and is not covered everywhere in Canada, but it can’t take that into consideration when making decisions. "Cost is not a consideration."

From the London Times...

[John] Mosley had already had pre-op medicine for a heart valve operation at the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield when it was cancelled. Just 15 minutes before he was due in the operating theatre, his surgeon called in sick.

He went home and the following day decided to pop down to his allotment near his home in the village of Todwick, near Sheffield.

Mrs Mosely said: "He was the village handyman and he went out and cut a woman’s garden in the morning before coming home for lunch. At a quarter to two, he kissed me and waved me off to work."

When he did not come home for his tea, his wife and son became worried and went to look for him. They found him dead at the allotment, his van parked near by and his radio still playing....

Mrs Mosley said yesterday: "We feel we have been robbed. We feel if he had had his operation he would still be here today. The coroner has confirmed that he died because his heart valve packed up. I am hurt and very angry at the National health Service.

"The day after he died a nurse phoned me to say would he go in on Sunday, ready to be operated on the following day. I said, ’He won’t be there. He has died.’"

From the UK Times:

In a case that highlights the crisis in diagnostic tests, King’s College Hospital, London, warned Rachel King that, because of "heavy demand", the MRI scan that her consultant had sought could be delayed for 80 weeks....

Ms King, 32, from Erith, Kent, was knocked down by a car in January. She suffered a broken collarbone, five broken ribs, a shoulder blade broken in three places and head injuries. She was in hospital for 17 days. After she suffered dizzy spells and reduced vision, her consultant referred her for an MRI scan. She said that she was appalled to receive the letter from King’s, saying that, because of "heavy demand", the scan would be delayed.

What added insult to injury was the handwritten note on the bottom, which read: "If you want to go privately call 0845 6080991 for prices."

When she did, the telephone was answered by King’s College Self Pay, who said that the cost of such a scan was £983, and she could have the procedure in a couple of weeks.

There’s are tons more like those. The solution is not to cover the indigent at the expense of worsening the overall quality of health care for everyone, but to help the indigent, while maintaining the overall quality of health care for everyone. Socialized medicine has proven to severely weaken overall health care quality.

I applaud your efforts to provide solutions for the poor in third world nations, but solutions come best with a thorough and realistic analysis of the problem at hand.