Conclusion
Sweden and India, being developed and developing countries respectively, differ in a number of respects and in particular with regards to health care policy and health care system. However, apart from the quality of healthcare, the two countries also differ in terms of infrastructure, economy, poverty levels, and quality of education, literacy levels, per capita income, technological advancements, living standards and industrialization criteria. As has been established in the above discussion, the high quality of healthcare in Sweden means that the standards of living in this country are relatively higher than is the case in India with a struggling health sector. However, one of the main similarities between these two countries is that both of them are facing financial challenges in fully funding an advanced healthcare system such as the ones in developed countries like the US. As a report by Jakubowsk and (1998) shows, Sweden has a comprehensive healthcare system with a large number of its population having access to a wide array of healthcare services through the National Insurance Scheme. The healthcare system in Sweden rides mainly on the principle of equity and equal access though lack of enough financial resources and lack of patient choice are some of the current challenges and shortcomings of the system (p.114). Moreover, the research has established that the GDP of Sweden stands at over 2 trillion dollars while that of India is below 100 billion dollars. The two countries are also similar with regards to types of medical and health facilities that are found in their healthcare centers; both lack sophisticated and advanced healthcare facilities to treat certain illnesses such as cancer but have high number of nurses. Hence, in summary, it is these differences and similarities that define the kind of commercial, political, diplomatic and social relationships and understandings that exist between Sweden and India.
References
Jakubowski, E., & Busse, R. (1998). Health care systems in the EU: A comparative study. European Parliament. Retrieved February 10, 2016, from http://www.europarl.europa.eu/workingpapers/saco/pdf/101_en.pdf
