Access to safe drinking water is key to the livelihood of millions of people living in rural areas in the third world.  The lack of a clean water facility not only affects the health of the family but also brings secondary affects along with it.  For example, contaminated water has proven to slow income growth of families who drink it as oppose to families who have accessibility to safe drinking water.   

UNICEF is one of the many organizations who provide economic and technical assistance to the third world.  A reported done by UNICEF in 2003 indicated that only 41 percent of the country had access to proper bathroom facilities.  Currently, UNICEF is working with the Vietnamese government to provide the proper water infrastructures to the poorest rural communities.  Historically, the northern part of Vietnam has been the poorest compared to the south.  A project which was recently completed, provided a clean water facility in Dai Phac village.  Steve Nettleton of UNICEF “Dai Phac Commune takes water from a natural spring, purifies it and then pumps safe water directly to villagers’ homes. The system has made a dramatic improvement in the lives of people…”

Bringing awareness of the disadvantages that the people of the third world are faced with on a daily basis is a goal of mine.   Please visit this link on how you can make a difference to the millions of people who live in poverty.

It is amazing what one can do when going to work five days a week and putting legislations on the floor that will benefit middle class Americans and our national security interest.  In the blitz that the democrats have coined the “First 100 hours,” the democrats have managed to do what the Republicans could not do nor care to do in 42 hours and 15 minutes. 

Passed:
• Implement 9/11 Commission Recommendations
• Increase Minimum Wage
• Expand Stem Cell Research
• Negotiate lower Rx drug cost
• Cute interest rate on student loans
• End oil Subsidies and invest in renewal energy

This is an amazing accomplishment and a fulfillment of the democrat’s promises.  Now it is up to Senate which is expected to be a tougher battle due to the close margin of a majority between democrats and republicans.

Part Two     (Part One)

Welcome back to my extended series on Japan’s national health care system. This is to get our minds running into how we could use or could not use some of the implementations and measures that the Japanese government uses for its national health plan. So if you have not read part 1, do so here.

This post will talk about how Japan’s health care system is funded and the cost associated with different plans.

Cost
• Employer-Based Insurance — Funded by employers (50-80% of cost) and premiums paid by the employees (4-8%) which can also be split in half by the employers. Co payments vary by plan. 74% of the Patient Cost-Sharing Restoration Program even picks up part of the co-payment.
• NHI — depend on income, assets, and benefit payments from the previous year.
• Elderly — $5 for outpatient and 3.50 for inpatient care a day.

Funded
• 81.5% of health spending is funded by public sources.
• Corporate and individual premiums.
• Government does provide general revenues to subsidize part of the population.
• Government subsidies financed 50% of the benefit payments in the NHI plan.
• Health services are subject to co-payments of 10-30% ($231-438 per month).

Part One 

A national health care system in the U.S. will not happen anytime soon. With the recent economic report of the Department of Teasury, our economic state of affairs is in need of a drastic overhaul. So, how is it the U.S. is the only industrialized country without a health care? Well, I have decided to do a series which will take a look at several countries to see how they do it. When talking about a national health care system for other countries there are a number of factors that need to be considered. One of the most important ones is the type of government that is in place.

So, with that let’s take a look at Japan’s national health care system and the basics.