Europe’s universal healthcare systems have long been held up as models for other parts of the world. But in many countries they are now under extreme strain. Chronic underfunding, an aging population and labor force, and continuing fallout from the pandemic mean these systems are sometimes failing their patients.

Bloomberg reporters Naomi Kresge and Jonas Ekblom join this episode to explain how this happened and what governments are trying to do about it. And Dr. Tomas Zapata of the World Health Organization talks about how European nations can rebuild the healthcare workforce before it deteriorates.

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