In many countries private healthcare is the norm whereas in others it is provided by the government free of charge. Many people think that the latter should be adopted across the world. I would agree with this sentiment and would argue that universal access to healthcare should be seen as a human right.
Perhaps the biggest problem with government provided healthcare is the cost. Because an efficient healthcare service costs a great deal of money to provide, governments need to raise extra funds in order to cover costs. The only way of doing this is to collect taxes from the population. Many people object to this and see it is paying for a service that they may not use. They argue that private healthcare is a much more effective service.
However, proponents of a state funded system argue that everybody should have access to medical treatment. Furthermore the quality of the care and treatment provided should be universal. They claim that private healthcare which is run for profit leads to inequality. This is because if individuals are forced to pay for their own treatment then this excludes the poor from access to help and only the wealthy are able to benefit.
This is an issue that has polarized opinion in a number of countries. For example America recently implemented a state funded healthcare system and it was met with widespread protests from half of the population. However, I would agree that the government should provide healthcare to its citizens as is the model in many European countries.
In conclusion I believe that although there are high costs involved, universal health care should be a priority for governments. It is evident that not everybody is in agreement with this but I think that it is unethical for people to suffer because they cannot afford treatment for a medical condition.