Health System. The way a culture pr

Health System. The way a culture prevents and cures disease or illness, or cares for victims of disasters or accidents. The concepts of health and wholeness, well-being, and medical problems differ by culture. Some countries have witch doctors, spiritual remedies, and herb medications. Others, like India, have fewer government-sponsored social services, while Britain has a system of socialized medicine. The United States is in the midst of a major transition in its health-care and delivery system, and there is increasing emphasis on universal coverage, prevention, and wellness health models, and alternative holistic medical treatments. Medical practitioners can be culturally biased. For example, Western medicine tended to ignore folk medicine, especially in Asia and Africa. Fortunately, in this century, modern health-care workers are more open and are even practicing cross-cultural medicine. If the method or cure relieves pain and suffering without causing harm, they are willing to try and even adopt it.