Prague, May 25 (CTK) – The Czech Republic spends on health care a lower share of GDP than advanced European countries and the shares have been declining in the past years, according to the data the Czech Statistical Office (CSU) released today.
In 2010, the share was 8.6 percent, in 2015 it was only 7.8 percent, and the Czech Republic is moving below the EU average that is some 10 percent of GDP.
“The share of GDP lags behind the EU average of 9.9 percent. We slightly exceed neighbouring countries such as Slovakia, Poland or Hungary. In advanced states such as France, Germany or Sweden, it is about 11 percent. Baltic states at the other end of the rankings spend 6 percent and Romania 5 percent of GDP on health care,” Vladimira Kalnicka, from the CSU, said.
The Czech Republic ranks 18th among the EU 28, including Britain.
While the GDP share has been declining in the past years, the total sum was rising. In 2010, 340.7 billion crowns were spent on health care. Five years later, it was 353.7 billion.
Health insurance companies provided about two thirds of the sum, or 234.7 billion in 2015. Households contributed 13 percent of the sum, or 45 billion crowns. The state provided around 15 percent and other public budgets about 3 percent of the sum – totalling 64.7 billion. The remaining 3 percent came from NGOs, companies and other sources.
The big portion of the sum went to out-patient care, followed by bed facilities.
The health insurance companies, of which there are seven in the country, paid out the biggest amount, or 21.7 billion crowns, to the treatment of heart and artery diseases, in 2015.
The treatment of tumours cost the insurers 23.7 billion and muscle and bone diseases 16.4 billion crowns.
“The spending on the treatment of the locomotor system has increased by 54 percent, which has been the most since 2010,” Kalnicka said.
($1=23.642 crowns)
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