Healthcare in Croatia

Healthcare in Croatia

Croatia has a universal health care system. This means everyone can get medical help when they need it. The system began a long time ago, with laws from 1891. These laws made sure workers had health insurance. Today, all people in Croatia have basic health insurance. This insurance is provided by law and managed by the Croatian Health Insurance Fund. The health care system in Croatia is very important.

Expenditure

Healthcare spending in Croatia is a small part of both private insurance and public funds. In 2012, the country spent about 6.8% of its total money (called GDP) on healthcare. This was less than the 8% spent in 2008, when most healthcare money came from public sources. Croatia’s life expectancy was about in the middle compared to other countries, with men living about 75.6 years and women about 81.4 years. The country also had a low number of babies who didn’t survive their first year, with only 6 out of every 1,000 births not living past that point.

Institutions

Croatia has many healthcare places. There are 79 hospitals and clinics with many beds. These hospitals help lots of patients every year. Some hospitals are owned by the government, and some are owned by the Counties of Croatia.

There are also private offices where doctors work. In total, there are many health workers, including doctors.

There are emergency medical service units that help people often. Croatia does well with kidney transplants, doing many each year for every million people.

Health

In 2011, heart problems were the most common reason people in Croatia passed away, especially for women. Cancer was also a frequent cause. In 2012, only a small number of people in Croatia were affected by a serious illness called HIV/AIDS, and very few passed away from it. Many adults in Croatia smoke, and many also have a higher weight than is healthy. Croatia had one of the lowest rates of deaths from diseases that spread easily between people in all of Europe in 2015.

COVID-19 pandemic

Main article: COVID-19 pandemic in Croatia

In February 2020, Croatia had its first case of the illness. A young man who had been in Milan, Italy, tested positive and was taken to a hospital in Zagreb, Croatia.

The government formed a team to handle the situation. This team included health experts and leaders. They made rules to keep people apart and later started vaccination programs to help protect everyone.