SLOVAKIA’s position among European health-care systems has gotten worse this year. The European Office for the Protection of Patients reported that according to the results of the 2009 Euro Health Consumer Index (EHCI), Slovakia’s position dropped by six places to the 28th among the 33 countries, the SITA newswire reported.
“Slovakia received 560 points of the 1,000 maximum and healthcare is generally perceived negatively, excluding the basic rights of patients, good accessibility to family doctors. There were several successes in the area of public health, such as children's vaccination and the inclusion of dental care into health care covered by health insurance,” SITA quoted the office.
“Slovakia is a country that strove for health-care reform early, but was unable to maintain the quality of medical care. This unpleasant situation may become even worse under the impact of the financial crisis,” said EHCI research director Arne Bjornberg.
However Slovakia has a patient drug information system and is one of thirteen European countries that have a user-friendly national pharmacopoeia.
The Netherlands ranked first for the second time. Denmark was second, followed by Iceland and Austria.
