Slovakia - Health



Since 1995 general public health services have been organized into a system of state health institutes. However, primary health care services, formerly operated by the state, are now separate from the public health sector and reimbursed through a compulsory insurance program. There were 77 polyclinics in Slovakia in 1998, up from 52 in 1990. In 1994 Slovakia had 84 hospitals, 23 specialized institutes, and one maternity facility. As of 1999, there were an estimated 3.5 physicians and 7.1 hospital beds per 1,000 people. There were over 4,000 specialists providing secondary outpatient care in 1998. Slovakia has a higher ratio of nurses per population (7.4 per 1,000 people in 1998) than other Eastern European countries. As of 1999, total health care expenditure was estimated at 6.5% of GDP.

In 1999, there were 58,137 births. Life expectancy in 2000 was 73 years and infant mortality was 8 per 1,000 live births. As of 2002, the crude birth rate and overall mortality rate were estimated at, respectively, 10.1 and 9.2 per 1,000 people. A Slovakian woman living through her childbearing years had an average of 1.3 children (2000). A large proportion of Slovakian women (74%) used some form of contraception in 1991. Immunization rates for children up to one year old in 1997 were impressively high: tuberculosis, 90%; diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus, 98%; polio, 98%; and measles, 98%.

As of 1999, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS was estimated at 400 and deaths from AIDS that year were estimated at fewer than 100. HIV prevalence was 0.01 per 100 adults. Tuberculosis has been on the rise in Slovakia; there were 1,760 tuberculosis cases in 1994. The incidence of tuberculosis in 1999 was 28 per 100,000 population. In 1992, 43% of men and 26% of women older than 15 were smokers.

Also read article about Slovakia from Wikipedia

User Contributions:

Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic: