How healthy is 'healthiest'?
This is no time to be complaining about minor aches and pains. The World Health Organization has just announced that the Japanese are the healthiest people on the planet. This comes as a welcome surprise, since this country is frequently criticized by health-conscious foreign observers for its continuing acceptance of smoking in public places and the extent of the social drinking that lubricates personal and business relationships. At the same time, the usually fatal diseases associated with the stressful lifestyle in developed nations are now common here. Do the WHO experts know something we do not?
The report was a comparative global analysis of national health-care systems. In that ranking, this country did not come out on top. Nevertheless, it is a remarkable achievement for Japan's health and medical facilities to be placed 10th on a list of 50 nations, well ahead of those in Britain, Canada, the United States and the Northern European countries long considered models for providing maximum health care for their citizens.