People with serious medical conditions from around the world would be grateful to live in one of these 10 most advanced countries in medicine. Word of warning though, in some of them, healthcare comes at a very steep cost.
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Medicine is one of the fastest developing fields of human science. Considering that every human benefits from it, it isn’t surprising. The amount of money poured into medical research every day is mind boggling. Countries around the world spend trillions of dollars on searching for cures for the world’s most deadly diseases. Rarely a day goes by without some news regarding the latest development making the news. In a span of 30 years, having an HIV virus went from a certain death sentence to a manageable condition. Most of cancer types are treatable today, especially if caught early. But despite of all the funds spent on advancing medicine, sometimes the progress is painfully slow.
Unfortunately, not all can benefit from advanced medical care. There are parts of the world where health care is in very poor condition. Mostly, this is caused by lack of funding by governments of those countries. Simply put, there isn’t enough money to be spent on hospitals and doctors. The disparity between least and most advanced countries in medicine is quite staggering, as most of the later ones are among the most technologically advanced countries in the world.
But differences in quality of health care don’t end there. In some countries on our list, parts of the population have appallingly low access to medical attention, despite country’s overall highly advanced medical facilities and superbly trained personnel. And as always when the debate about health care status starts, the good ole’ United States gets mentioned and usually not in a good way, although you may be surprised to find out exactly where on the list US are. But we will leave that debate for another time. Today we are focusing on medical progress. Countries on our list are ranked based on the number of medical research papers published and number of citations. Plainly put, these are the countries that have the most impact in advancing the field of medicine. As it may be expected, the list is heavily dominated by what we call the first world countries, mainly EU and North America countries, with few notable exceptions. Who does the most research and who develops the best cutting edge technologies in the world? Let’s check out our list of the most advanced countries in medicine and find out.
10. Sweden
Sweden making it to the list is no surprise to anyone who has any kind of knowledge about Scandinavia. The only surprise is that it isn’t placed higher.
9. Australia
With $5.5 billion invested in medical research in 2011, Australia has earned its place on the list.
8. Netherlands
Despite being the smallest country on our list, Netherlands’ research facilities, like the ones in Utrecht and Groningen, are held in high esteem among their peers throughout the world.
7. Italy
Despite its economy being in somewhat dire condition, Italy is keeping up with medical research.
6. France
The quality of health care in France is something that their government takes a lot of pride in. Apparently, they also spend a pretty penny on research as well.
5. Canada
Canada’s health care system has been a subject of envy for many of their southern neighbours.
4. Japan
Number 4 on our list of most advanced countries in medicine is Japan. It is also without competition in Asia, as Japanese publish 5 times more research papers than China, which is closest to them. Although, with several major pharmaceutical companies recently announcing their intentions of opening research facilities in China, that may soon change.
3. Germany
The first winner of Nobel Prize for medicine was a German, Emil Adolf von Behring in 1901. He got it for his work on a serum against diphtheria. Ever since then Germany has been one of the forerunners in the field of medical research.
2. England
The UK health care system is divided territorially, with England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each having their separate systems. In terms of research and advancement, England is leading the way.
1. The United States of America
Despite all the bashing America receives every time someone mentions medical care, it remains the most advanced country in medicine. The sheer number of research papers published every year is higher than the next 5 countries on our list combined. America’s medical scientists are also first in number of researchers that have foreign collaborators, illustrating their willingness for cooperation with their colleagues from around the globe, which is a contributing factor to their overall success.
