Some people fancy all health care debates to be a case of Canadian Health Care vs. American. Not so. According to the World Health Organization’s ranking of the world’s health systems, neither Canada nor the USA ranks in the top 25.

Improving the Canadian Healthcare System does not mean we must emulate the American system, but it may mean that perhaps we can learn from countries that rank better than both Canada and the USA at keeping their citizens healthy.

World Health Organization Ranking; The World’s Health Systems

1 France

2 Italy

3 San Marino

4 Andorra

5 Malta

6 Singapore

7 Spain

8 Oman

9 Austria

10 Japan

11 Norway

12 Portugal

13 Monaco

14 Greece

15 Iceland

16 Luxembourg

17 Netherlands

18 United Kingdom

19 Ireland

20 Switzerland

21 Belgium

22 Colombia

23 Sweden

24 Cyprus

25 Germany

26 Saudi Arabia

27 United Arab Emirates

28 Israel

29 Morocco

30 Canada

31 Finland

32 Australia

33 Chile

34 Denmark

35 Dominica

36 Costa Rica

37 USA

38 Slovenia

39 Cuba

40 Brunei

41 New Zealand

42 Bahrain

43 Croatia

44 Qatar

45 Kuwait

46 Barbados

47 Thailand

48 Czech Republic

49 Malaysia

50 Poland

51 Dominican Republic

52 Tunisia

53 Jamaica

54 Venezuela

55 Albania

56 Seychelles

57 Paraguay

58 South Korea

59 Senegal

60 Philippines

61 Mexico

62 Slovakia

63 Egypt

64 Kazakhstan 65 Uruguay

66 Hungary

67 Trinidad and Tobago

68 Saint Lucia

69 Belize

70 Turkey

71 Nicaragua

72 Belarus

73 Lithuania

74 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

75 Argentina

76 Sri Lanka

77 Estonia

78 Guatemala

79 Ukraine

80 Solomon Islands

81 Algeria

82 Palau

83 Jordan

84 Mauritius

85 Grenada

86 Antigua and Barbuda

87 Libya

88 Bangladesh

89 Macedonia

90 Bosnia-Herzegovina

91 Lebanon

92 Indonesia

93 Iran

94 Bahamas

95 Panama

96 Fiji

97 Benin

98 Nauru

99 Romania

100 Saint Kitts and Nevis

101 Moldova

102 Bulgaria

103 Iraq

104 Armenia

105 Latvia

106 Yugoslavia

107 Cook Islands

108 Syria

109 Azerbaijan

110 Suriname

111 Ecuador

112 India

113 Cape Verde

114 Georgia

115 El Salvador

116 Tonga

117 Uzbekistan

118 Comoros

119 Samoa

120 Yemen

121 Niue

122 Pakistan

123 Micronesia

124 Bhutan

125 Brazil

126 Bolivia

127 Vanuatu 128 Guyana

129 Peru

130 Russia

131 Honduras

132 Burkina Faso

133 Sao Tome and Principe

134 Sudan

135 Ghana

136 Tuvalu

137 Ivory Coast

138 Haiti

139 Gabon

140 Kenya

141 Marshall Islands

142 Kiribati

143 Burundi

144 China

145 Mongolia

146 Gambia

147 Maldives

148 Papua New Guinea

149 Uganda

150 Nepal

151 Kyrgystan

152 Togo

153 Turkmenistan

154 Tajikistan

155 Zimbabwe

156 Tanzania

157 Djibouti

158 Eritrea

159 Madagascar

160 Vietnam

161 Guinea

162 Mauritania

163 Mali

164 Cameroon

165 Laos

166 Congo

167 North Korea

168 Namibia

169 Botswana

170 Niger

171 Equatorial Guinea

172 Rwanda

173 Afghanistan

174 Cambodia

175 South Africa

176 Guinea-Bissau

177 Swaziland

178 Chad

179 Somalia

180 Ethiopia

181 Angola

182 Zambia

183 Lesotho

184 Mozambique

185 Malawi

186 Liberia

187 Nigeria

188 Democratic Republic of the Congo

189 Central African Republic

190 Myanmar

Source: World Health Organization