The Blackwell Companion to Medical Sociology

20
Transformation of the Health Care
System in the Czech Republic ± A
Sociological Perspective
Hana JanecÏ kovaÂ
The Czech Republic arose from the former Czechoslovakia, which was established
after the disintegration of the Austrian±Hungarian Monarchy in 1918 as a
democratic country with a modern industry and well-developed social and
health care system. Czechoslovakia became a part of the Soviet Bloc after
World War II. This merger impacted political, economic, and social life
negatively. The only experience of political freedom came during the short
period of the so-called ``Prague Spring'' which was curtailed by the Soviet
occupation in 1968. Czechoslovakia finally became free after the ``velvet'' revolution
in November 1989. In January 1993, the country was peacefully divided
into two independent states ± the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. The
revolution meant the replacement of the totalitarian political model employed by
the Soviet government with a modern pluralistic democracy open to political
freedom, a market economy, and human rights.
Main ain Demographic emographic and Socioeconomic
ocioeconomic Characteristics
haracteristics
This small central European country, a member of NATO since 1999, occupies
a territory of about 79,000 square kilometers and has about 10.3 million
inhabitants with the density of population totaling131 persons per square
kilometer (CÏ aÂkiova 1999). The country is politically divided into 76 districts,
each with about 120,000 inhabitants with the exception of the capital Prague,
which contains 1.2 million people. Historically, there has been two parts: Bohemia
on the west and Moravia on the east. The socioeconomic differences
between regions are increasing in connection with the restructuralization of
heavy industry and with rapidly growing unemployment in some regions. In
northern and western Bohemia as well as in northern Moravia where coal