2022 IB Diploma Extended Essays

Using Belgium, Switzerland and England as case studies, to what extent does a nation’s

health care system have an impact on the management of breast cancer screenings

during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic?

Context

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, aka covid-19) is an easily

communicable airborne disease (World Health Organisation, 2021), causing lockdowns all

over the world to quarantine the transmission of this virus. As a result, economies have shut

down non-essential services to counteract the pandemic. Facilities such as cancer screening

invitations, dining in at restaurants, gyms, etc. also come under this category. The

management of resources within an economy, especially in health system is consequential of

the health care model the nations are under as it determines whether such services are under

government control or operated by their individual provinces. The cessation of non-essential

cancer screenings creates a significant impact on the course of treatment for potential patients

as a delay in screening allows for the unmonitored progression of cancer growth.

The management of breast cancer diagnosis and screening is vital in maintaining good health

of citizens, which is indicative of efficient resource allocation in an economy, thereby lending

the significance of this issue on a global scale.

In order to answer the research question, it is tantamount to clearly define the features of the

health care systems in the UK, compared to Belgium and Switzerland.

The health care model in Belgium and Switzerland is recognised as the Bismarck model.

Named after Otto von Bismarck, this model provides medical access to the majority – if not

all – citizens through a mandatory portion of their income being contributed to a “sickness

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