A comparison of healthcare systems and health indicators of the Republic of Croatia and the Kingdom of Norway

U radu su uvodno uspoređeni opći sociološki i ekonomski parametri dviju država, a nakon toga bitni zdravstveni pokazatelji. Dio njih pokriva zdravlje žena i djece, a dio se odnosi na opću populaciju. Odabrani su parametri koji se ili bitno razlikuju u Hrvatskoj i Norveškoj ili koji pokazuju dinamiku u svojim trendovima. Pokazalo se da, iako su dvije države u ekonomskom razvoju smislu drugačije, u mnogim zdravstvenim pokazateljima su usporedive i općenito gledajući imaju zdrava društva. Hrvatska nešto zaostaje u područjima u kojima bi preventivne aktivnosti dugoročno mogle pokazati pozitivne trendove, poput navika pušenja, kulture vožnje, a nažalost i smrtnosti od tumora dojki, prostate i dišnog sustava. No Hrvatska ima općenito nižu incidenciju pojave tumora, a i nižu stopu elektivnih abortusa i kongenitalnih malformacija. Što se organizacije zdravstvenih sustava tiče, obje države imaju općenito decentralizirani pristup organizaciji, no dok je Norveška općenito podijeljena u 4 regije, Hrvatska svoju decentralizaciju usklađuje s 20 županijskih organizacija i Gradom Zagrebom. Obje su države socijalne države i građani imaju univerzalan pristup zdravstvenom sustavu, iako je to u Hrvatskoj donekle ograničeno regresivnim financiranjem zdravstva te općenitom ekonomskom nestabilnošću i nižim socioekonomskim standardom većeg broja stanovnika.The paper starts with a comparison of general social and economic parameters of the two countries and afterwards important health indicators are compared. Some indicators cover health of woman and children and a part covers the health of the general population. The chosen parameters either differ considerably between Croatia and Norway or show a dynamic in their trends. It is shown that although the two countries are different in the sense of economic prosperity, they are comparable in many health indicators and generally speaking have healthy societies. Croatia lags in areas in which preventive measures could show positive results on the long run, such as smoking habits, culture of driving, and unfortunately breast, prostate and respiratory system cancers as well. However, Croatia generally has a lower incidence of tumors, as well as a lower rate of elective abortions and congenital malformations. As far as the organization of healthcare systems is concerned, both countries use a generally decentralized approach, however while Norway is divided into 4 regions, Croatia aligns its decentralization with 20 county organizations and the City of Zagreb. Both are welfare states and their citizens have universal healthcare access, although this is somewhat restricted in Croatia due to regressive healthcare financing as well as general economic instability and a lower socioeconomic standard of a significant part of the population