Health system and life expectancy: a combo not always winning

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By: Léa-Lisa Westerhoff Follow

A healthcare system on the verge of a nervous breakdown in Hungary. Hungarians live shorter lives than Greeks, Poles or Czechs. This is the disgraceful finding of a recent survey by Eurostat, the European statistical body. The life expectancy of Hungarians is among the lowest in Europe: 72 years for men, 79 years for women. Main culprit: the dilapidated health system.

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While some provincial hospitals have been partially renovated with European funds, in Budapest the public hospitals are in an alarming state. The health system has failed to settle the legacy of communism. In 30 years, no government has carried out real reforms. One figure speaks for itself: in Hungary, public health expenditure represents only 4.6% of GDP against more than 9% in France or Germany. Florence La Bruyère's explanations.

Gifts to fight corruption

In Serbia, unable to raise wages, the country took an astonishing measure in the spring of 2019: the legalization of bribes to doctors. Officially, the objective is to control the corruption that has plagued public health for many years. Accepting money for medical intervention is nevertheless liable to imprisonment in Serbia, but convictions are rare, due to the lack of testimony and evidence from Simon Rico .

The concept of emergency care stations in rural areas

While in France, public hospitals have been on strike for eight months to defend a health system that cracks in the face of budget cuts. In Spain, the emergency system in rural areas resists and has succeeded in establishing itself. If the economic crisis of 2008 had forced some health centers to close, under pressure from residents and public authorities, the majority of them have reopened. Our correspondent in Spain, Diane Cambon , went to Extremadura, a very rural region with a low population density where this network of small emergencies regularly saves lives.

More and more homeless mothers at the end of maternity in Paris

In France, in the capital and its region, it is an increasing phenomenon. Hospitals are becoming shelters against the street. At the end of November, 62 very pregnant women were identified as homeless. Unable to find accommodation, these young mothers, covered by state medical aid, find themselves housed in Paris maternity hospitals. A situation that completely exceeds the administration and the carers. Since 2017, public hospitals in Paris have therefore formed partnerships with associations to find a roof for these women and their newborns. Report by Juliette Rengeval .

Did Ferrante follow suit?

His name is well known, but his identity remains a mystery. In Italy, Elena Ferrante, the author of L ' aie mie prodieuse , this first volume in a saga on the friendship between two little girls from Naples in the 1950s. Well, this bestseller sold over 700,000 copies in 42 languages ​​may well have given rise to another phenomenon. " A Ferrante effect on Italian literature " as the New York Times recently described in an article. Our correspondent in Italy, Cécile Debarge , explains what it is.

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