Jakovljevic, M.; Cerda, A.A.; Liu, Y.; Garcia, L.; Timofeyev, Y.; Krstic, K.; Fontanesi, J. Sustainability Challenge of Eastern Europe—Historical Legacy, Belt and Road Initiative, Population Aging and Migration. Sustainability2021, 13, 11038.
Jakovljevic, M.; Cerda, A.A.; Liu, Y.; Garcia, L.; Timofeyev, Y.; Krstic, K.; Fontanesi, J. Sustainability Challenge of Eastern Europe—Historical Legacy, Belt and Road Initiative, Population Aging and Migration. Sustainability 2021, 13, 11038.
Jakovljevic, M.; Cerda, A.A.; Liu, Y.; Garcia, L.; Timofeyev, Y.; Krstic, K.; Fontanesi, J. Sustainability Challenge of Eastern Europe—Historical Legacy, Belt and Road Initiative, Population Aging and Migration. Sustainability2021, 13, 11038.
Jakovljevic, M.; Cerda, A.A.; Liu, Y.; Garcia, L.; Timofeyev, Y.; Krstic, K.; Fontanesi, J. Sustainability Challenge of Eastern Europe—Historical Legacy, Belt and Road Initiative, Population Aging and Migration. Sustainability 2021, 13, 11038.
Abstract
Historical legacy of Eastern European and Balkans’ health systems was mutually interdependent and shaped by local socioeconomic circumstances. Three distinctive systems of risk sharing and health financing to develop since the late XIX century were the Bismarck, Beveridge, and Semashko systems. Modern day healthcare systems in these countries are challenged by population ageing, accelerated innovation in medical technology, growing purchasing power and rising demand for healthcare services. Supply side changes contribute to demand side efficiency bottlenecks in financing, driving the costs of the already expensive medical care up. All of the nations have a large share of citizens experiencing difficulty with affordability and access to medical care, particularly in rural and remote areas. Network of Health technology assessment agencies have mushroomed over the past three decades. Principles of health economics theory and cost-effective resource allocation are slowly gaining ground in governing authorities’ mindset and decision-making process. For many years to come, pharmaceuticals and medical services will remain dependent on out-of-pocket spending. Currently accelerating and spreading 4.0 Industrial Revolution, together with the Belt and Road Initiative, are likely to substantially impact the further economic development of this vast region. Post-Pandemic ‘Green’ Recovery strategies adopted by many of the Eastern European governments shall also make this transition towards sustainable development more difficult and challenging given the large dependency of all these economies upon traditional carbon fuels.
Keywords
Eastern Europe; Balkans; Healthcare; Sustainability; History; Financing; Population Ageing; Migration; Belt and Road Initiative; Sustainable Millennium Development Goals
Subject
Business, Economics and Management, Economics
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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