Two of the biggest agendas on the liberal calender if the Democrats were to take office in 2009 are a universal healthcare plan, and a new carbon tax to offset global warming. Ironically it appears these two issues have more in common than I had originally thought. It seems that government run health care is one of the leading causes of increased carbon outputs, which in turn are warming our planet. Here is how:

Record numbers of Britons are travelling abroad for medical treatment to escape the NHS - with 70,000 patients expected to fly out this year.

And by the end of the decade 200,000 “health tourists” will fly as far as Malaysa and South Africa for major surgery to avoid long waiting lists and the rising threat of superbugs, according to a new report.

The first survey of Britons opting for treatment overseas shows that fears of hospital infections and frustration of often waiting months for operations are fuelling the increasing trend.

Patients needing major heart surgery, hip operations and cataracts are using the internet to book operations to be carried out thousands of miles away.

India is the most popular destination for surgery, followed by Hungary, Turkey, Germany, Malaysia, Poland and Spain. But dozens more countries are attracting health tourists.

Research by the Treatment Abroad website shows that Britons have travelled to 112 foreign hospitals, based in 48 countries, to find safe, affordable treatment.

Almost all of those who had received treatment abroad said they would do the same again, with patients pointing out that some hospitals in India had screening policies for the superbug MRSA that have yet to be introduced in this country.

…”People are simply frightened of going to NHS hospitals, so I am not surprised the numbers going abroad are increasing so rapidly.

“My fear is that most people can’t afford to have private treatment – whether in this country or abroad.”

Low prices in India, where flights, hotels and a heart bypass cost less than half the price charged by British private hospitals, explain its top ranking in the survey by Treatment Abroad, a British website providing information on hospitals overseas.

Hungary’s popularity rests on a boom in dentistry, thanks to a shortage of NHS dentists in Britain.

The poorly run government health care system in Britain is causing many to fly to Malaysia for treatment, which is approximately 6,500 miles away. If the estimated 70,000 patients fleeing Britain for their health care needs were to make this trip it would total almost 1 billion miles of flying round trip. These are miles that would otherwise not been flown had Britains health care system provided its citizens with the timely and efficient care we are used to.

Rather than instituting a carbon tax to curb global warming it appears all we need to do is have Britain (and Canada) get rid of their government run health care systems.

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Global Warming, Health Care, Politics