Development of Health Care in Lithuania and Estonia: Similar Conditions, Different Results
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Liutauras Gudžinskas
Abstract
The article deals with the health systems of Lithuania and Estonia by evaluating their historical context, describing their development after regaining independence, presenting data on how the health care resources are distributed and what are the results of these systems. Although health care in these countries is financed at a similar level, the Estonian health system exceeds its Lithuanian (and Latvian) counterparts in many important aspects. It is argued that an essential impact on the differences in health care of the Baltic countries has been exerted by decisions regarding the financing and governance of the health system at the early period of the post-communist transformation.
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World Health Organisation defines health care as a system that includes “all the activities whose primary purpose is to promote, restore or maintain health“ (WHO 2000: p. 5). That includes not only formal sector responsible for personal health care, but also covers home care of the sick, consumption of medicine (including those cases when they are used without doctoral prescription), health promotion, also such public policy means as road safety measures, education of professional personnel, research and other activities. Hence, the health care covers a very wide spectrum of activities and may have various forms. Actually any country in the world has a certain health system – even in that case when it is only informal or very fragmented.
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In this chapter (if another source is not indicated) statistical data on the health systems are taken from the WHO European health for all database, <http://data.euro.who.int/hfadb/>, 2012 06 02.
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Deaths from ischemic diseases are treated by Nolte & McKee (as well as by Tobias & Yeh) as only partly (50%) dependent on medical intervention. It is held that they are also caused by personal way of life and other factors.
Acknowledgement
The article has been written under the basis of the third part of the author’s dissertation “Transformation of post-communist states and their welfare regimes: a comparative analysis of the Baltic countries” (supervisor – A. Jankauskas; consultant – Z. Norkus). The author thanks A. Jankauskas, K. Maniokas, Ž. Martinaitis, V. Nakrošis, Z. Norkus, D. Pūras, A. Šimaitis for their comments and suggestions for this part of dissertation.
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©2013 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Article
- The Production of Institutional Facts in Economic Discourse
- Different Paths of Transitional Justice in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland
- Homo Politicus – Towards a Theory of Political Action and Motivation
- Global Victimhood: On the Charisma of the Victim in Transitional Justice Processes
- Intervention and Promotion of Democracy. The Paradoxes of External Democratization and the Power-Sharing Between International Officials and Local Political Leaders
- Foreign Impacts Revisited: Islamists’ Struggles in Post-War Iraq
- Concentration of Decision-Making Power: Investigating the Role of the Norwegian Cabinet Subcommittee
- Referendum: A Complement or a Threat to Representative Democracy?
- MKs Usage of Personal Internet Tools, 2009: On the verge of a New Decade
- Ten Years of European Impact Assessment: How It Works, for What and for Whom
- Political Parties and Pension Generosity in Times of Permanent Austerity
- The Electoral Consequences of Welfare State Reforms for the Danish Social Democrats
- Electoral Competition and the Constituent-Representative Relationship
- Austria Inc. Forever? On the Stability of a Coordinated Corporate Network in Times of Privatization and Internationalization
- Development of Health Care in Lithuania and Estonia: Similar Conditions, Different Results
