Bulgarian Healthcare: You Pay Dearly to Die Early

After the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the average life expectancy in Bulgaria has decreased by 1.5 years compared to 2019 and now Bulgarian citizens live (73.6 years) with seven full years less than the average European (80.6 years).

Bulgaria's population has shrunk by 10% in 10 years

The collapse is the highest in Europe (twice the average) and, in addition to the record mortality from COVID-19, is explained by the poor efficiency of Bulgarian health care, which leads to more than the EU average deaths from curable and preventable diseases.

This is the conclusion of the European Commission's report on the state of health in the EU, published in late 2021.

According to the report, despite the significant increase in health care costs in Bulgaria, they remain the lowest in Europe, and the lack of prevention dooms Bulgarians to suffering from diseases that could be avoided or cured and lead a better life.

"Despite improvements in the health system over the last decade, the impact of persistently high-risk factors, high additional payments by patients and excessive focus on hospital care continue to hamper the system," the European Commission said in a statement.

It says the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the need for additional investment in the health sector, including better preparedness for future health crises. "For Bulgaria, this challenge includes investments to create a unified health information system to accelerate the introduction of e-health and improve working conditions in the sector."

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The healthcare system

The main criticism of the healthcare system...