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GEOGRAPHICAL INEQUALITIES REGARDING THE HEALTH STATUS OF THE POPULATION IN ROMANIA

C. Sosea, L.Popescu

Abstract

During the decades following 1989, characterized by multiple economic and social convulsions, Romania faced a profound transformation of its demographic structures, with a natural population deficit and a negative migratory balance rate. Although our health care system has been in a perpetual state of reform since then, few attempts materialized in long-term policies, patient or prevention-oriented. The steady degradation of the physical and mental health of the population has been caused by perpetual social insecurity and political instability, economic difficulties, corruption, lack of legal constraints and major demographic changes. The main objectives of this study were to analyse, in a comparative and evolutionary perspective, the inequalities that occur in the geographical distribution of the health components of Romania’s population, as well as the identification and analysis of the main determinants and relationships between them. Geographical distribution of medical personnel, access to medical care and infrastructure reveal major disparities among regions and in particular between urban and rural areas. By using quantitative and GIS techniques, this study is aiming to examine the spatial distribution of healthcare resources in order to point out the large rural-urban divide in health care provision and to highlight the deep territorial discrepancies related to supply of health services and potential population needs. The main results emphasized a poor health status of the population, the aggravating factors being the demographic aging, the large share of socio-economic dependent population and the high level of chronic diseases incidence, all leading to increased health care need.

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