madkins
Registered
HELSINGIN SANOMAT
INTERNATIONAL EDITION
Helsinki time Tuesday 28.12.2004
Finnish health care favours the rich
Finns with high incomes have better access to health care services than those who earn less. According to an OECD study on 21 countries, Finland heads the list of countries where money brings better health care. Right behind Finland come Portugal and the United States.
In addition to having better access to private doctors and occupational health services, Finns with high incomes were also found to use public health services more than others.
The study showed that Ireland was the most congenial toward those with low incomes. The public health systems of Belgium, The Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland also tend to favour poorer citizens.
Juha Teperi, Director-General of the National Research and Development Centre
for Welfare and Health (STAKES), says that private medical serv
ices and the occupational health services offered by employers benefit those who are better off. Teperi is one of the writers of a survey on social and health services, which was published on Tuesday.
"Well-paid established employees of large employers get medical services from their employers. Those on short-term contracts, and especially those working in the transport and construction business, do not get such benefits", Teperi says.
He adds that initiatives such as the National Health Project cannot eliminate inequalities in the system.
The project focuses mainly on supporting regional activities, but it does not affect the financing of health care.
The growth in inequality cannot be explained by a lack of doctors. Teperi points out that more doctors are employed in public health care now than ever before.
Wealthier citizens gain access to surgical wards of public hospitals through their pr
ivate doctors.
Experts at STAKES are also concerned about the situatio
n of children. Although the number of births is declining in Finland, the proportion of children requiring child welfare services is constantly increasing. Last year one in 20 Finnish children under the age of 18 had dealings with child welfare services.
Skerryvore,
madkins
INTERNATIONAL EDITION
Helsinki time Tuesday 28.12.2004
Finnish health care favours the rich
Finns with high incomes have better access to health care services than those who earn less. According to an OECD study on 21 countries, Finland heads the list of countries where money brings better health care. Right behind Finland come Portugal and the United States.
In addition to having better access to private doctors and occupational health services, Finns with high incomes were also found to use public health services more than others.
The study showed that Ireland was the most congenial toward those with low incomes. The public health systems of Belgium, The Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland also tend to favour poorer citizens.
Juha Teperi, Director-General of the National Research and Development Centre
for Welfare and Health (STAKES), says that private medical serv
ices and the occupational health services offered by employers benefit those who are better off. Teperi is one of the writers of a survey on social and health services, which was published on Tuesday.
"Well-paid established employees of large employers get medical services from their employers. Those on short-term contracts, and especially those working in the transport and construction business, do not get such benefits", Teperi says.
He adds that initiatives such as the National Health Project cannot eliminate inequalities in the system.
The project focuses mainly on supporting regional activities, but it does not affect the financing of health care.
The growth in inequality cannot be explained by a lack of doctors. Teperi points out that more doctors are employed in public health care now than ever before.
Wealthier citizens gain access to surgical wards of public hospitals through their pr
ivate doctors.
Experts at STAKES are also concerned about the situatio
n of children. Although the number of births is declining in Finland, the proportion of children requiring child welfare services is constantly increasing. Last year one in 20 Finnish children under the age of 18 had dealings with child welfare services.
Skerryvore,
madkins