Iceland ranked third out of 33 European countries in the area of health care, according to Belgian health care indexing company Health Consumer Powerhouse.
According to their country summary of Iceland (which you can read here), “Iceland scores 811 points from a potential 1,000 and generally performs better than most countries already members of the European Union.”
The report elaborates, with Dr. Arne Björnberg, the Euro Health Consumer Index Director, saying, “Iceland essentially, because of its location, has built a healthcare system with the capability of serving 2 million people, which is serving 300 000. Also, the absence of specialist doctor training in Iceland, where young doctors all spend 8 – 10 years abroad in good hospitals, provides Icelandic medicine with high-level skills and good professional contacts.”
Number one on the Health Consumer Powerhouse index was the Netherlands, followed by Denmark. After Iceland came Austria and Switzerland, all of whom were described as “strong performers”.
(Photo: landspitali.is)