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INPRIMATU
Applause, EU countries have made huge cuts in health over the last decade
  • With the impetus of privatisations and the ban on ceiling spending, there have been significant cuts in health spending in the countries of the European Union in the last decade. The countries that have reduced the most are Greece, Iceland and Portugal, followed by Spain and Italy.
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Before the crisis, for example, the Spanish State spent 7% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on health, compared with 6.2% at present. This means that from 2009 to the present it spends 7.6 billion euros less on health. Even before the crisis, Spain spent 2 points less than France on GDP and 2.5 points less than Germany. At present these intervals have increased: Spain spends EUR 3,300 per person, France EUR 4,900 (49% more) and Germany EUR 6,000 (81% more).

The following data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) compare the situation of the countries of the world. Regarding personal health, we can observe the situation of Spain and France according to the countries around. The lowest figure corresponds to Spain, with 30.1 people per 1,000 inhabitants in the health system, followed by Italy, with 32, France and the United Kingdom, with 60 and Germany, with 71.

In the case of nurses, the figures are as follows: Spain 5.7 nurses 1. 000 inhabitants, 11 French and 13 Germans. In the CAV, for example, the number of nurses is 7.4 and in Navarre it is 8.5.

Germany tops the EU with 800 beds per 100,000 inhabitants. France has 598, Italy has 318 and Spain has 297. The number of the CAV is 330, while the number of Navarra is 383. The European Union (EU) average is 405 basis points.

Health workers are now being applauded and the authorities are putting themselves on the front line, but in general, data shows that most countries have gone back on health spending: there are fewer and fewer people working in health and those who are in a worse situation. In France, for example, there have been strong protests to improve the working conditions of hospitals, and repression, as seen in the images.