As Poland is hit harder than most by the second wave of COVID-19, a new report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) points to the limitations of the Polish health system as well as other risk factors, such as air pollution and high rates of elderly sickliness.
Among the key takeaways from the OECD’s Health at a Glance: Europe 2020 report are:
- Poland entered the pandemic with the EU’s lowest number of doctors by population size, as well as one of the lowest numbers of nurses.
- The country’s number of intensive care beds is near the EU average.
- Poland spent around €80 more on health per person during the first wave in spring.
- Elderly Poles have the EU’s highest rate of chronic diseases.
- It also has a significant number of premature deaths caused by pollution, as well one of the highest suicide rates among young people.
Lowest number of doctors in the EU
The pandemic has exposed latent fragilities in the health system, including numbers of medical professionals, which are a particular problem for countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
In 2018, Poland had the EU’s lowest number of practising physicians in relation to population – 2.4 doctors per 1,000 inhabitants – placing it well below the bloc’s average of 3.8. Meanwhile, there are just over five nurses per 1,000 inhabitants in Poland, compared with the EU average of eight.
The new report also notes policies to boost surge capacity response during the first wave of the pandemic. In Poland, doctors were reassigned between facilities depending on needs. Moreover, final-year students studying such subjects as medicine, pharmacy and nursing were “allowed to perform support roles in hospitals and nursing homes”.
Furthermore, laws were also passed to facilitate the hiring of retired health workers and non-practising nurses. In one instance a hospital in western Poland appealed to nuns to help care for coronavirus patients.
During the second wave, Poland’s government has also sought to attract over 1,000 doctors from abroad, mostly from Ukraine and Belarus, to bolster its strained healthcare system.
Intensive care beds near EU average
The new report also finds that Poland had around 10 intensive care beds per 100,000 inhabitants in 2019, slightly below the EU average of 13. Poland scores three times lower than Germany (2017 data) and Austria (2018 data), which had around 30 beds per 100,000 inhabitants.
According to data from Poland’s ministry of health, there are currently 38,345 beds available for COVID-19 patients, of which 22,405 are occupied. There are 3,010 ventilators, of which 70% are currently occupied.
Around €80 more spent on health per person during first wave
Poland spends only around 6.2% of its GDP on healthcare, compared with an EU average of 8.5%, reports Gazeta Wyborcza. The new OECD report looks at how much additional spending countries made in preparation for the pandemic up to 1 April.
It finds that Poland spent an extra €80.02 per inhabitant, mainly to create and equip infection hospitals and support medical transport and additional health care services, as well as for the purchase of PPE.
The countries that provided the largest cushion include the UK (€445.78 per person), followed by Germany (€301.76) and Ireland (€273.59). But Poland’s spending was ahead of countries such as Belgium (€75.48), Portugal (€56.81), Austria (€55.49) and Greece (€30.20).
The report notes, however, that these figures represent estimates from official announcements of spending measures, rather than actual expenditures. They exclude commitments by subnational governments, external donors or private donations.
Poland has the highest rate of chronic diseases of elderly people in the EU
The report also finds that Poland has the EU’s highest rate of chronic diseases among people aged 65 and over. Almost 60% of elderly Poles have at least two such illnesses, including Alzheimer’s disease, kidney failure, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, and joint diseases.
According to the OECD, a child born in Poland in 2018 will on average live to the age of 77, compared with 81 in neighbouring Germany and 83 in Spain.
One notable factor contributing to Poland’s lower life expectancy is poor air quality. The report calculates that pollution contributes to 120 premature deaths per 100,000 inhabitants each year in Poland, compared with 180 in Bulgaria and 130 in Hungary, as well as 80 in Germany and 50 in France.
In the EU as a whole, between 168,000 and 346,000 annual premature deaths are attributed to air pollution from fine particles alone. Moreover, air pollution is believed to cause about €600 billion in economic and welfare losses each year, which is equivalent to 4.9% of the EU’s total GDP in 2017, reports the OECD.
Poland also has one of the highest suicide rates among young people. Between 2015 and 2017, there were seven suicides per 100,000 inhabitants aged 15-19 years, slightly higher than in the UK (6), Germany (5), Italy (2), but much lower than in Lithuania (14), reports Gazeta Wyborcza.
The report finds that a quarter of Poles smoke cigarettes, compared with 21% in the EU. The highest proportion in the EU is in Greece, where a third of the population smokes, while the lowest in Sweden, where only a tenth smokes.
While coronavirus infections and deaths rose rapidly throughout October, the situation has now “stabilised”, according to the health minister. The government announced on Saturday that it was extending coronavirus restrictions until after Christmas to avoid a resurgence of the virus.
Main image credit: Adam Guz/KPRM (under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Maria Wilczek is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She is a regular writer for The Times, The Economist and Al Jazeera English, and has also featured in Foreign Policy, Politico Europe, The Spectator and Gazeta Wyborcza.
