After Fahrenheit 9/11, the latest documentary from acclaimed writer-filmmaker Michael Moore is Sicko - his commentary on the US healthcare system which according to him is the worst of all the Western countries.

After seeing the movie (or any of his other documentaries) one has to say that only Michael Moore can make a documentary that is so watch-able, so funny, so shocking, and not to mention so persuasive.

Moore presents an absolute horror image of healthcare in America, which for those of you who don’t know, is a totally privatised enterprise, unlike the nationalised healthcare systems of Britain (NHS) and other Western European countries.

Moore starts the movie with stories of various people in America who feel they have been let down by their healthcare system. Some have lost all their savings in order to pay for treatment, others have been refused health insurance because they have one or more of the numerous ailments that can disqualify you from getting health insurance, others have been screwed over by the insurance companies via a variety of excuses not to pay for their treatment, some of them bordering on unbelievable. We also hear from former insiders within the healthcare industry such as physicians and peer reviewers of medical journals, health insurance investigator and salesmen etc, about corruption within the system and the big money being made by health insurance and pharmaceutical companies. Taken at its face value, one is bound to come out being scared to go to America for fear of lest they should get sick-o.

He then travels to the UK and France to compare the healthcare in those countries to that of America. The health system in France (and in fact their entire social system) is presented as the absolute final frontier in Sicko, where everyone gets free healthcare, government paid nannies come and help raise children, people live in a thriving democracy where people merrily and vocally express their views via mass protests and so on and so forth.

He eventually takes a trio of 11/9 rescue workers who had apparently developed some ailments after volunteering at ground zero but denied treatment within America due to the cost of treatment and medications, to Cuba where they receive not only the care they need but also hugs and kisses from other Cubans.

I’ve never been to Cuba and I’ve never had the misfortune (or fortune if Moore is right) of being sick in France. But I HAVE had experience with our very own NHS, as must have most of our UK readers. The NHS could not have asked for a better ad than Moore’s Sicko, in fact to the extent that it may feel like a parody from Little Britain to anyone who’s had a bad experience with the NHS. Free and efficient hospitality for all, standard price medicines, no one asking you to foot a bill for treatment – he shows it all. We even hear an over joyous GP who makes eighty 80 Gs, has a 500K house and own an Audi, about how privileged he feels to be able to contribute to society through working in the NHS and also how satisfied he is with the rewards.

I don’t know about you guys but for my experience with the NHS, my mom kept going to the GP for two years and he kept prescribing her pain medication, until as a return favour to my dad a private medical practitioner agreed to conduct a check up on my mum. After tests done on the very first day it turned out she had had diabetes for the last two years. So that was the NHS for her. But then again, once she was diagnosed with the disease we could transfer her file to the NHS and reap the benefit of free medication offered for all diabetes patients. So make what you want of that story and feel free to send in your stories (good or bad) to us at Hindu Voice. To be sure most people who complain about healthcare in the NHS don’t necessarily compare it to America; they do it to the European countries like Sweden and Denmark etc, sometime even India.

In the end I can just say that if documentaries are your thing, this is certainly the most watch-able one out there in cinemas right now. As to full validity to his criticism of the American healthcare system – I really don’t know what to say. There have been question raised about Moore’s methods and the veracity of the facts in his previous films. Oh and then there is the movie Manufacturing Dissent, made by two self-proclaimed liberals and Moore fans about Moore himself where they try to follow him on his slacker tour of America and try to secure a interview but find Moore reluctant to speak on camera and also receive regular harassment from Moore entourage somewhat in contradiction to the image of Moore’s belief in freedom of speech.

I haven’t actually seen that movie. It was aired at the recent Raindance film festival in London but I missed that showing. It should be interesting movie to watch, it certainly is a testament to the democratic nature of filmmaking. So if anyone knows where I can watch this film in London, or where I can buy the DVD or maybe even has a pirate copy, please to let me know.