According to the Czech Republic Prosperity Index, Česká spořitelna data project and European analytics portal in terms of data, the Czech Republic has the fifth best availability of healthcare services in the European Union. Due to the financial situation, only 0.3% of the population cannot afford healthcare, citizens of only four EU states are better off. However, the Czech population is not above average in health.

“The Czech healthcare system provides its citizens with a relatively wide range of preventive check-ups and examinations, which are fully covered by public health insurance, meaning that as a patient you do not have to pay anything. This is rare even in EU countries. However, these possibilities are not sufficiently utilized by Czech patients,” said the director of the Public Health Insurance Company, Zdeněk Kabátek.

Overall assessment of access to health services According to the Welfare Index, in addition to financial aspects, it also includes the average distance to the doctor and waiting time for examinations or medical procedures.

And as far as physical distance to the doctor is concerned, the situation is much worse in this country. Due to the long distance, up to 5.1% of Czechs do not visit a doctor when necessary, which is the 5th worst result in the EU.

In smaller villages, there are no doctors, and people have to travel long distances.

“VZP has been monitoring the availability of services for a long time. Our data shows that the problem mainly concerns small towns or border areas, agglomerations with lower population density or lower purchasing power, which may seem less attractive to doctors,” Zdeněk Kabátek stressed.

However, the biggest problem with availability across the EU is the long waiting period. In the Czech Republic, more than 14% of the population does not seek medical care for the disease, which is still slightly above the average for other European countries.

The Czech Republic’s top ranking also ensures sufficient hospital beds. There are 658 hospital beds per 100,000 people, the sixth highest ratio.

For example, in Sweden this ratio was last one-third. The Czech Republic ranks fifth best in terms of infant mortality statistics, at 2.3 ‰ in 2020 (i.e., two deaths per thousand live births).

If the Czech Republic had an above-average EU healthcare system that was accessible to all, then the Czech Republic’s poor health situation would be even more surprising. In terms of real life expectancy with good health, the Czech Republic is around the European average. Before more serious health complications occur, the average Czech will live to 62 years in good health.

“The number of years spent in health is much more important for the quality of human life than the total number of years lived. Unfortunately, in the Czech Republic, the last fifth of life is spent in permanent discomfort – mental, physical, and often simultaneously. show surgeon and founder of the Health Minister Tomáš Šebek platform.

Perhaps surprisingly, obesity is a long-standing problem in the Czech Republic. A BMI (body mass index) of more than 30 kg/m23 there are over 19.3% Czech citizens in the Czech Republic, which is the 18th highest result in the EU.

We fall to 23rd place when we also focus on the stages before obesity. More than 58% of the country’s population is overweight, and this is of course associated with a number of health complications such as metabolic, cardiovascular and vascular diseases, a higher risk of tumors, psychological disorders or overloading of the musculoskeletal system.

“The increase in obesity in the Czech Republic mirrors global trends, especially in developed countries, where the surplus of resources is not matched by investments in healthy eating, compensation for sedentary work through exercise or adequate sleep,” explains Tomáš Šebek, surgeon and founder of the Ministry Zdraví platform.

Unfortunately, the Czech Republic also ranks unflatteringly in terms of alcohol consumption and number of smokers.