Sunday, July 1, 2007

They say it's good for your health

I have just completed the annual eye tests for glucoma and the like and I suddenly thought to myself how we have come to take these routine tests for granted. If I review the various tests I automatically do each year, even routine blood tests it does seem that there is a great effort in preventative medicine here in Israel.

Life expectancy in Israel at birth is: 79.32 years (2005 est.), males: 77.21 years and female: 81.55 years. the comparable figues for the UK are 78.7 yrs, 76.23 yrs and 81.3 years. by the way the figures for the USA are even lower than the UK. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy

With all the controversy of boycotts, the charges of apartheid and racism, the reality is that in the medical field these charges just reflect ignorance.

In a letter to a paper this weekend by the head of a department in the hospital in Safad, he writes: " I invite anyone to visit my hospital to see for themselves the complete equality the Arab citizens enjoy not only as professionals but also as patients".

I must add that I have a number of friends working in the Haifa University and their comments re the academia echo that of the doctor.

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