Guide hub
Country profiles: the Americas, Asia, Africa and the Middle East — twenty-six health systems
Twenty-six health systems outside Europe, in the same plain-language template.
Published 7 November 2026 · Last reviewed 7 November 2026 · Next review 7 May 2027
Direct answer: Twenty-six health systems from the Americas, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, each explained in the same plain language: the model, who pays, who delivers care, what is free at the point of use, and the key figures. No country is ranked as best. The other thirty profiles are in the companion hub for Europe, and the full table is on the Countries page.
Chapter 1
Country profiles: the Americas, Asia, Africa and the Middle East — twenty-six health systems
Twenty-six profiles, one template each: the model, who pays, who delivers, what is free, and the key figures.
The figures behind the profiles
Life expectancy is for 2023 and health spending for 2024, from the OECD Health at a Glance 2025 country dashboards — except for Argentina, Brazil, China, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and Vietnam, whose figures are for 2023 from WHO Global Health Estimates and the World Bank (WHO Global Health Expenditure Database), and for Chile, Colombia and Mexico, whose life expectancy is for 2024, the latest year for those countries in the OECD table. See the country index for the full table of all fifty-six profiles.
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Every guide and tool in this hub, in one filterable list.
Health system: Canada
Canada's health system, in plain language: how Medicare works across the provinces, what is covered, what is not, and the key figures.
Published 6 November 2026 · Last reviewed 7 November 2026 · Next review 7 May 2027
Health system: Australia
Australia's health system, in plain language: how Medicare works, what it covers, what private insurance adds, and the key figures.
Published 6 November 2026 · Last reviewed 7 November 2026 · Next review 7 May 2027
Health system: Japan
Japan's health system, in plain language: how mandatory public insurance works, what patients pay, and the key figures behind it.
Published 6 November 2026 · Last reviewed 7 November 2026 · Next review 7 May 2027
Health system: United States
The United States' health system, in plain language: a mix of private insurance and public programmes with no universal system, who pays, and the key figures behind it.
Published 6 November 2026 · Last reviewed 7 November 2026 · Next review 7 May 2027
Health system: Brazil
Brazil's health system, in plain language: how the Unified Health System (SUS) works, what patients pay, and the key figures behind it.
Published 6 November 2026 · Last reviewed 7 November 2026 · Next review 7 May 2027
Health system: India
India's health system, in plain language: how public provision and insurance schemes fit together, what patients pay, and the key figures behind it.
Published 6 November 2026 · Last reviewed 7 November 2026 · Next review 7 May 2027
Health system: Nigeria
Nigeria's health system, in plain language: how mandatory insurance on paper and out-of-pocket payment in practice fit together, and the key figures behind it.
Published 6 November 2026 · Last reviewed 7 November 2026 · Next review 7 May 2027
Health system: New Zealand
New Zealand's health system, in plain language: how tax-funded care run by Health New Zealand works, what patients pay, and the key figures behind it.
Published 6 November 2026 · Last reviewed 7 November 2026 · Next review 7 May 2027
Health system: Mexico
Mexico's health system, in plain language: how social security and public provision for the uninsured work, what patients pay, and the key figures behind it.
Published 6 November 2026 · Last reviewed 7 November 2026 · Next review 7 May 2027
Health system: Chile
Chile's health system, in plain language: how the public fund Fonasa and the private ISAPRE insurers work, what patients pay, and the key figures behind it.
Published 6 November 2026 · Last reviewed 7 November 2026 · Next review 7 May 2027
Health system: China
China's health system, in plain language: how the two public insurance schemes work, what patients pay, and the key figures behind it.
Published 6 November 2026 · Last reviewed 7 November 2026 · Next review 7 May 2027
Health system: Israel
Israel's health system, in plain language: how the National Health Insurance Law and the four health funds work, what patients pay, and the key figures behind it.
Published 6 November 2026 · Last reviewed 7 November 2026 · Next review 7 May 2027
Health system: Singapore
Singapore's health system, in plain language: how the S+3Ms — subsidies, MediSave, MediShield Life and MediFund — work, what patients pay, and the key figures behind it.
Published 6 November 2026 · Last reviewed 7 November 2026 · Next review 7 May 2027
Health system: Indonesia
Indonesia's health system, in plain language: how the national health insurance programme JKN works, what patients pay, and the key figures behind it.
Published 6 November 2026 · Last reviewed 7 November 2026 · Next review 7 May 2027
Health system: Vietnam
Vietnam's health system, in plain language: how social health insurance works, what patients pay, and the key figures behind it.
Published 6 November 2026 · Last reviewed 7 November 2026 · Next review 7 May 2027
Health system: Ethiopia
Ethiopia's health system, in plain language: how the Health Extension Program and community-based health insurance work, what patients pay, and the key figures behind it.
Published 6 November 2026 · Last reviewed 7 November 2026 · Next review 7 May 2027
Health system: Iran
Iran's health system, in plain language: how the primary health care network and the Health Transformation Plan work, what patients pay, and the key figures behind it.
Published 6 November 2026 · Last reviewed 7 November 2026 · Next review 7 May 2027
Health system: Pakistan
Pakistan's health system, in plain language: how the Sehat Sahulat Program works, what patients pay, and the key figures behind it.
Published 6 November 2026 · Last reviewed 7 November 2026 · Next review 7 May 2027
Health system: Philippines
The Philippines' health system, in plain language: how PhilHealth and the Universal Health Care Act work, what patients pay, and the key figures behind it.
Published 6 November 2026 · Last reviewed 7 November 2026 · Next review 7 May 2027
Health system: Korea
Korea's health system, in plain language: how the National Health Insurance Service works as a single insurer, what patients pay, and the key figures.
Published 6 November 2026 · Last reviewed 7 November 2026 · Next review 7 May 2027
Health system: Colombia
Colombia's health system, in plain language: how the mandatory social health insurance system works, what patients pay, and the key figures.
Published 6 November 2026 · Last reviewed 7 November 2026 · Next review 7 May 2027
Health system: Costa Rica
Costa Rica's health system, in plain language: how the single-payer national health service works, what patients pay, and the key figures.
Published 6 November 2026 · Last reviewed 7 November 2026 · Next review 7 May 2027
Health system: Argentina
Argentina's health system, in plain language: three sectors — public hospitals, obras sociales and private prepagas — who pays, and the key figures.
Published 6 November 2026 · Last reviewed 7 November 2026 · Next review 7 May 2027
Health system: Peru
Peru's health system, in plain language: fragmented subsystems — SIS and EsSalud — who pays, and the key figures.
Published 6 November 2026 · Last reviewed 7 November 2026 · Next review 7 May 2027
Health system: South Africa
South Africa's health system, in plain language: a two-tier system, the NHI Act, who pays, and the key figures.
Published 6 November 2026 · Last reviewed 7 November 2026 · Next review 7 May 2027
Health system: Thailand
Thailand's health system, in plain language: three public schemes — UCS, SSS and CSMBS — who pays, and the key figures.
Published 6 November 2026 · Last reviewed 7 November 2026 · Next review 7 May 2027
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Questions
Frequently asked questions
How do I compare two countries?
Use the Health System Comparison tool for six countries side by side, and read Health system models, explained for the four models.
What does “free at the point of use” mean?
No payment when the care is received — not that the care costs nothing: somebody pays, through taxation or contributions, before the patient arrives.
Where is the full table of all fifty-six profiles?
On the Countries page — every profile, with region and model filters.