Don’t get sick in the UK

“Britain, the sick man of Europe”, headlines the Daily Mail on its front page. In an article accompanied by a photo of a silvery-haired jogger clutching his chest in cardiac agony, Middle England’s daily of choice reveals that “British cancer and heart attack victims are more likely to die than almost anywhere in the developed world.” According to an OECD report published today, Britain is “languishing with the Czech Republic and Poland in international league tables on health.” This is a supreme insult for the Daily Mail, as the latter two “former Communist countries” spend only “a fraction of the billions poured into the NHS (UK’s National Health Service).” British Health Secretary Andy Burnham somewhat cheerfully claims that in other areas – i.e. nursing numbers are higher than France - “enormous progress” has been made.