As the current debate for healthcare reform literally "rages" on, a new survey conducted by Harris/Decima, shows how other countries view the U.S. healthcare system. Recently claims have been made by some elements in the country that the U.S. system, despite its flaws is one of the best in the world.

But according to findings from a survey conducted in Canada, that's just not the case. The survey points out that nearly a 10-to-1 majority of Canadians believed their system was "superior" to the U.S. system. The survey also notes that a nearly 70% majority of Canadians thought their system was "performing well," and that a majority favored an expansion of public sector healthcare.

"Anybody in America who thinks the healthcare system is the envy of the world is sadly mistaken," Humphrey Taylor, Chairman of the Harris Poll Interactive told Medical Device Daily.

The Harris/Decima poll was conducted by telephone in Canada between June 4 and 8, 2009 among a nationwide cross section of 1,010 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region, number of adults in the household, number of phone lines in the household were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.

The main findings and facts from the poll were:

• A 70% majority of Canadians thought their system was performing either "very well (12%) or "fairly well" (58%). Only 28% thought it was performing "not well at all" (9%) or "not that well" (19%).

• Most people (55%) favored an expansion of the public sector. Just over a quarter (27%) of Canadians thought that the Canadian system had got the balance between public and private sector healthcare right. Only 12% favored a tilt towards the private sector.

• An 82% majority of Canadians believed their country's healthcare system was superior to the U.S. system. Only 8% thought the U.S. system was superior.

And in a poll that sampled the thoughts of almost 10 countries, the U.S. still came in dead last when it comes to opinions of a healthcare plan.

A Harris poll published July 2, 2008, compared the popularity of the healthcare systems in 10 countries. The U.S. system was the most unpopular. It reported that 33% of Americans felt there was "so much wrong with the healthcare system, we need to completely rebuild it." In the other nine countries between 9% (in the Netherlands) and 20% (in Italy) felt this way. Only 12% of Americans thought that "the system works pretty well."

And earlier a Financial Times/Harris Poll found that 59% of British adults and 70% of French adults believed their countries' healthcare systems were "the envy of the world." This can be compared to a Harris Poll in the U.S., conducted with the Harvard School of Public Health in March 2008 that found that only 45% of Americans believed that they had "the best healthcare system in the world."

"Most people are unhappy with the current healthcare system and favor reform," Taylor said. "They want to have a system that gives them affordable access to quality care for the rest of their lives. International surveys show that Americans are more dissatisfied with the U.S. healthcare system than are people in all, or almost all, other developed countries."

To date the healthcare reform debate has been contentious and at times unruly. Town hall meetings have recently been interrupted with outbursts and anger and a vote on a new healthcare bill won't be until possibly September.

"To be slightly indiscreet I've been shocked and appalled about the misinformation that has been used in the healthcare reform debate," Taylor said. "And when I look at the way people have been behaving lately (at healthcare town hall meetings), I'm afraid that they won't be swayed by facts."

Omar Ford, 404-262-5546; omar.ford@ahcmedia.com