Romania : Health Sector Policy Note

Many of Romania's basic health indicators have shown steady improvement since the 1970s. Both male and female life expectancy has gone up, and infant and maternal mortality have declined. Despite this progress, Romania still faces considerable...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: World Bank
Language:English
en_US
Published: Washington, DC 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/11/16797506/romania-health-sector-policy-note
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/18910
Description
Summary:Many of Romania's basic health indicators have shown steady improvement since the 1970s. Both male and female life expectancy has gone up, and infant and maternal mortality have declined. Despite this progress, Romania still faces considerable challenges in improving the overall health status of its population. The overarching challenge for the next Romanian government is how to improve equity in access to better quality health care services in a financially sustainable manner. To achieve this goal, the government will need to consider not only overall funding levels, but also further changes to the composition of health sector funding, the distribution and organization of service delivery, accountability and decisions regarding who pays for what services, and incentive mechanisms to improve service quality. The likelihood of an economic slowdown and corresponding pressure on government budgets means that containing health care costs while simultaneously seeking ways to improve the equity, quality and efficiency of care will be paramount. The report ends with several policy options or recommendations.