Fraser Institute News Release: 84% of Swiss hospitals and 60% of hospitalizations are in private facilities, and they face much lower wait times

VANCOUVER, BC, June 12, 2025 /CNW/ - If Canada reformed to emulate Switzerland's approach to universal health care, including its much greater use of private sector involvement, the country would deliver far better results to patients and reduce wait times, finds a new study published today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian policy think-tank.
"The bane of Canadian health care is lack of access to timely care, so it's critical to look to countries like Switzerland with more successful universal health care," said Yanick Labrie, senior fellow at the Fraser Institute and author of Integrating Private Health Care Into Canada's Public System: What We Can Learn from Switzerland.
The study highlights how Switzerland successfully integrates the private sector into their universal health-care system, which consistently outperforms Canada on most health-care metrics, including wait times.
For example, in 2022, the percentage of patients who waited less than two months for a specialist appointment was 85.3 per cent in Switzerland compared to just 48.3 per cent in Canada.
In Switzerland, 84.2 per cent of all hospitals are private (either for-profit or not-for-profit) institutions, and the country's private hospitals provide 60.2 per cent of all hospitalizations, 60.9 per cent of all births, and 67.1 per cent of all operating rooms.
Crucially, Swiss patients can obtain treatment at the hospital of their choice, whether located inside or outside their geographic location, and hospitals cannot discriminate against patients, based on the care required.
"Switzerland shows that a universal health-care system can reconcile efficiency and equity–all while being more accessible and responsive to patients' needs and preferences," Labrie said.
"Based on the success of the Swiss model, provinces can make these reforms now and help improve Canadian health care."
The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institute's independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit www.fraserinstitute.org
SOURCE The Fraser Institute

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The proportion of participants achieving HbA1c target of <7.0% was 59.5% in the GZR4 group and 70.7% in the IDeg group, while the proportion achieving HbA1c target of ≤6.5% was 38.1% and 29.3%, respectively. In patients from Part B, GZR4 demonstrated significantly greater HbA1c reduction compared to IDeg (-1.26% vs -0.87%; p<0.01), with a higher proportion of patients achieving HbA1c targets of <7.0% and ≤6.5% (52.1% vs 29.2%; 25.0% vs 10.4%). In addition, improvements from baseline in FPG and time in range (TIR) were comparable between the GZR4 group and IDeg group. GZR4 achieved effective glycemic control without the need for a loading dose at the first administration, while the total weekly insulin dosage (mole) for GZR4 was approximately 40–50% of that for IDeg (p<0.001). In terms of safety, the incidence of adverse events was similar between the two groups. No severe hypoglycemic events or investigational product-related serious adverse events were reported during the study. * The clinical data were presented as mean (SE) value. The detailed results of the above Phase 2 clinical study will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. Conclusion and Future Direction The latest clinical results presented at this year's ADA conference highlight Gan & Lee Pharmaceuticals' leading position in the development of long-acting antidiabetic therapies. Building on these positive outcomes, the company will continue to advance the research and development of innovative treatments for diabetes. Currently, Gan & Lee has initiated and is accelerating large-scale Phase 3 clinical programs in China for bofanglutide injection and GZR4 injections for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, aiming to provide more effective treatment options for patients with diabetes. Forward-looking statements Forward-looking statements are based on our expectations and assumptions as of the date of the statements. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, and we can give no assurance that such results will be achieved in the future. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. About Gan & Lee Gan & Lee Pharmaceuticals developed the first Chinese domestic insulin analog. Currently, Gan & Lee has six core insulin products, including five insulin analog varieties: long-acting glargine injection (Basalin ®), fast-acting lispro injection (Prandilin™), fast-acting aspart injection (Rapilin ®), mixed protamine zinc lispro injection (25R) (Prandilin™25), aspart 30 injection (Rapilin ® 30), and one human insulin injection - mixed protamine human insulin injection (30R) (Similin ® 30). 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Moving forward with its mission to become a world-class pharmaceutical company, Gan & Lee will also actively develop new chemical entities and biological drugs, focusing on treatments for metabolic diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and other therapeutic areas.