Japan has nationalized health care and I am typically for it but I think the system has gone wrong here. If you recall earlier I had a friend in the hospital late last year and I found the conditionals pretty appalling for a developed country, ie peeling walls, 70 year old beds small room and dirty halls. Well, today I went for a required health check up and my opinions were further reinforced. All the people in the town (so I am assuming all Japan) are required to go to a health check every year that consists of lung x-ray, urine and blood test, BMI measurement, eyes, ears, and heart.
To begin with LUNG X-RAY...the only time I have every had one before was to get accepted to this program. I would think that a technologically developed country like this wouldn't force their citizens to undergo a redundant test that can cause cancer. My doctor back home said he had to fudge a reason for the test because they only give them when necessary.
Next was the urine test. A urine test no big deal you pee in a cup, seal the lid and put it in a little door for the nice lab technicians to examine. It goes a little different here, you are given a paper coffee cup that has lines on it where to pee to, proceed to the bathroom and do your business, gingerly carry out the cup (it has no lid) into a waiting room full of people and stand in line with others who are holding their own cups of pee. Now you can take the time to examine each other's pee before you set it down on the table that is covered with numerous cups of pee. The technician then puts a stick in a cup of pee and analyzes it on a machine (in the waiting room) and he wasn't even wearing gloves. If someone bumps the table of cups of pee, well then, since there are no lids, there is pee all over the floor. I absolutely couldn't believe.
Later I was hooked up to some machine that looked like it might provide electric shock treatment and had my blood taken on a unsanitized table from a lady who wasn't wearing gloves.
Perhaps signs that nationalized health is not a good idea.
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living in rural Japan...always interesting!!!
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3 comments:
My gawd, I can't believe how horrible that sounds! And I always thought it was bad here! Interesting that they make you get your lungs and your BMI tested, like they're terrified you might smoke and/or eat too much, but getting cancer is okay, even encouraged...? Crazy... ;)
haha ya smoking is pretty bad here though people can smoke in many offices in a designated area that is not sealed of from the rest and all restaurants are pretty much smoking. stupid BMI... needless to say I am overweight in Japan. The BMI doesn't take into account my scultped muscles though;)
Kinda weird that they do test BMI every year - like what are they going to do if you really ARE overweight? Tell you to exercise? As if that isn't drilled into our lazy society's heads every waking moment! :) I also had a checkup yesterday and, just so you feel better, they made me take my pee sample with me into the examining room and a girl no older than I'd say 17 (the doctor's neice or something I swear) tested it right there infront of me. Very strange... Maybe it's an international standard now that they have to make pee tests as AWKWARD as possible... :)
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