European Study Ranks Bulgaria at Healthcare's Bottom

Health | May 15, 2012, Tuesday // 15:32|  views

According to EHCI, even such basic services like vaccinating babies and availability of modern medication are not functioning well in Bulgaria. File photo

Bulgaria's healthcare is one spot before the last one in Europe in the 2012 ranking of the Euro Health Consumer Index (EHCI), presented Tuesday in the European Parliament in Brussels.

The Index champion was the Netherlands, gaining 872 out of potential 1 000 points. The Dutch were followed by Denmark (837 points), Iceland (810 points), Luxemburg (802 points) and Belgium (797 points), the top group of this 34-country benchmark.

Bulgaria has just 461 points.

EHCI is published since 2005 by the Sweden-based think tank Health Consumer Powerhouse (HCP).

Dr. Arne Bj?rnberg, Director of HCP and Head of the EHCI team has pointed out that Bulgaria should not be compared with the wealthy EU member states but rather with neighboring countries such as Romania (497 points) and Serbia (457 points). He, however, voices alarm that in its 5 years of EU membership, Bulgaria's healthcare is still performing very poorly.

Dr. Bjornberg notes that even such basic services like vaccinating babies and availability of modern medication are not functioning well all while there is corruption and unequal treatment of different groups.

One of many conclusions from the 6th edition of the Euro Health Consumer Index (EHCI), is that despite the financial crisis and media alarm signals, European healthcare keeps improving its performance. Since the previous Index (2009) scores have risen – but there are also warning signs such as a widening gap between the top countries and the weakest.

In the successful parts of "healthcare Europe" there is a gradual build-up of health consumer influence, finds Bjornberg.

According to HCP official press release, "patients' rights are improving in more countries, various information to help consumers navigate healthcare is developing and devices to simplify access are becoming more frequent, such as eprescriptions and Internet-booking of appointments while user-friendliness has become a major quality performance driver in healthcare.

The press release points out that "power gap between the profession and consumers/patients is closing. For the first time, second opinions and medical records are tools of empowerment and shared decision-making in a majority of countries. Quality information about care providers has developed from a rare phenomenon to a not unusual platform for choice. Reliable pharmaceutical websites for lay-persons have spread to most European countries, undermining the Big Brother attitude that information about medicines from manufacturers is a dangerous thing."

Despite the above, EHCI 2012 paints a map of a fragmented "healthcare Europe": one group of highly developed, already consumer-influenced, healthcare systems in northwestern Europe (the Netherlands, Belgium, the Nordic countries), another one of quickly climbing CEE nations, such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Lithuania and Estonia; a category of well-established countries indicating problems to keep up speed with the new challenges, such as Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain, and a large group of constant under-performers (for reasons of economy, culture and politics) without any real improvement.

"This means that European healthcare is far from equal. This goes for basic services, such as infant vaccination or mammography, as well as for heart surgery or access to new cancer pharmaceuticals. The lack of progress among the weakest EU members should worry Brussels, as EU investments so far have proven little equalizing effect," Johan Hjertqvist, HCP founder and president, is quoted saying.

EHCI also recommends the EU to take strong action on sales of antibiotics without a prescription in pharmacies, which is against national regulations but still common in many countries. In combination with generous prescribing by doctors for banal cold or flues, this contributes to spreading life-threatening, resistant infections. The Index shows that in every second European country such infections have reached an alarming level.

The EHCI has become an "industry standard" of modern healthcare since the start in 2005.

The 2012 edition ranks 34 national European health care systems on 42 indicators, covering five areas that are key to the health consumer: Patients' rights and information, Accessibility of treatment (waiting times), Medical outcomes, Range and reach of services provided and Pharmaceuticals.

The Index is compiled from a combination of public statistics, patient polls and independent research conducted by HCP.


Tags: Netherlands, crisis, gap, Johan Hjertqvist, EU, Arne Bjornberg, HCP, health, consumer, Romania, Serbia, Belgium, Luxemburg, Iceland, Denmark, Holland, Brussels, European parliament, EHCI, European Health Consumer Index, healthcare, europe, Bulgaria

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