Kosovo Human Development Report 2010 - UNDP Kosovo - United ...

FIGURe
0%
4.1
5%
10%
Total expenditures on health as a % of GDP
15%
20%
USa FRa GeR aUT GRe Slo bIH MaC SeR CRo blG MNG alb KoS
Source: WHO SIS (except Kosovo source MEF 2008)
tend to have systematically higher morbidity
and mortality rates. 133 Economically
inactive men, for instance, have
higher risks of premature death than
those observed for employed men. Research
over the last 15 years shows significant
correlation between socio-economic
status and health. On average,
the more advantaged the individuals
are, the better their health is – whether
measured in terms of disease and
mortality134 or in terms of self-assessed
physical and psycho-social health. 135 In
Kosovo one third of the population has
limited access to drinkable water and
proper sanitation – with deprivation
rising steeply among the poorest quintiles.
The effect of poverty on exclusion
is compounded by social fractures that
prevent communities collaborating to
improve universal health access. Kosovo’s
bitter inter-ethnic divides are one
example, as Kosovo-Serbs refuse to
seek services from health facilities run
by Kosovo-Albanians, and vice versa.
(iii) Multiple challenges in accessing
health care providers: Kosovo has
70 | KOSOVO HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2010
15.3% 11.1% 10.4% 9.9% 9.9% 8.4% 8.3% 8.2% 7.6% 7.5% 6.9% 6.8% 6.2% 3.0%
an extensive network of public health
facilities, and the number of licensed
and functional private health facilities
is on the rise. 136 Over 80 percent of the
population has access to some level of
primary care within 10 minutes, and 99
percent within 20 minutes. However,
the distance to a health care provider
is not the only factor affecting inclusion.
In UNDP’s Kosovo Mosaic Survey
(2009), the respondents were asked
to answer the following question on
health care: On the last occasion you
needed to see a doctor or medical specialist,
to what extent did each of the
following factors make it difficult for
you to do so?
1. Distance to doctor’s office/ hospital/
medical centre;
2. Delay in getting appointment;
3. Waiting time to see doctor on day
of appointment;
4. Cost of seeing the doctor; and
5. Cost of buying medicines.
The largest proportion perceived that
they had to overcome all five factors to
access the necessary health care. As Table
4.4 demonstrates, men experience