Certainly happening in Western Europe as well, although not quite as bad as the UK. UK has a unhealthy population versus the rest of Europe - basically we are much fatter - and our NHS is less able to cope with surges in demand.
In regard to your wider point, yes, agree that healthcare will face the following trends:
1) the wealthy will use private clinics more and more and will be prepared to pay what it takes to get quality care. 2) the national healthcare systems, facing an increasingly sick and ageing population, will have to triage and focus on saving younger/healthier patients 3) countries will increasingly embrace the Canadian approach of legalised killing of the vulnerable. 4) shortages of medicine (already a growing issue) will become bigger over time. 5) people will shift to alternative medicine in the coming decades, partly out of force - they can't access or afford conventional/industrial medicine and partly out of choice as it is seen as better, safer and cheaper.
You might also see medicinal tourism grow as well to those places that have better functioning healthcare systems.
I see industrial healthcare systems facing a slow catabolic collapse over the next few decades due to soaring costs, energy costs, labour shortages, shortages of key medicinal products that rely on global supply chains, soaring demand from a increasingly sick and ageing society.
Re: NHS collapsing
Certainly happening in Western Europe as well, although not quite as bad as the UK. UK has a unhealthy population versus the rest of Europe - basically we are much fatter - and our NHS is less able to cope with surges in demand.
In regard to your wider point, yes, agree that healthcare will face the following trends:
1) the wealthy will use private clinics more and more and will be prepared to pay what it takes to get quality care.
2) the national healthcare systems, facing an increasingly sick and ageing population, will have to triage and focus on saving younger/healthier patients
3) countries will increasingly embrace the Canadian approach of legalised killing of the vulnerable.
4) shortages of medicine (already a growing issue) will become bigger over time.
5) people will shift to alternative medicine in the coming decades, partly out of force - they can't access or afford conventional/industrial medicine and partly out of choice as it is seen as better, safer and cheaper.
You might also see medicinal tourism grow as well to those places that have better functioning healthcare systems.
I see industrial healthcare systems facing a slow catabolic collapse over the next few decades due to soaring costs, energy costs, labour shortages, shortages of key medicinal products that rely on global supply chains, soaring demand from a increasingly sick and ageing society.