The Risk of the Outflow of Doctors and IT/ICT ... - Outlook Web App

even tradition, customs and historical developments. Comprehensive statistics also cannot
depict regional differences and local specifics. We illustrate the comparison below on OECD
data from 2002, which is the most complex. No significant deviations in the developments of
subsequent years were recorded and in most of the countries the ascertained trends remained
intact. The comparison does not cover the age structure of the doctors and the quality of care
provided.
When comparing the number of general practitioners per 1,000 inhabitants in twenty-six
OECD countries, the Czech Republic was directly in the middle, i.e. in 13 th place (0.7
doctors). The highest number of doctors measured by this indicator was recorded in Belgium
(2.1 doctors) and the lowest was in Poland (0.1 doctors).
In neighbouring Austria the number of general practitioners per 1,000 inhabitants was twice
as high as in the Czech Republic in 2002. Neighbouring Germany also has more general
practitioners. From the EU-15 countries, there are also a higher number of general
practitioners in Finland, France, Italy and Luxembourg and, on the contrary, Denmark,
Ireland, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden have a lower number of doctors.
The situation in the number of medical specialists is entirely different. The Czech Republic,
together with Greece and Hungary, occupies a leading position (the third highest place)
among OECD states in the number of medical specialists per 1,000 inhabitants. There were
2.5 medical specialists per 1,000 inhabitants in the Czech Republic, while the highest number
of specialists was recorded in Greece (3 specialists) and the lowest in Turkey (0.6).
All neighbouring countries (Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Poland) have less medical
specialists as do most of the EU countries and the economically powerful overseas countries,
e.g. USA (1.4) and Canada (1.1).
The Czech Republic is located in the upper half of comparable countries in the number of
dentists per 1,000 inhabitants - it is in twelfth place (0.7 dentists) in a ranking of 30 countries.
Greece has the most dentists measured by this indicator (1.2) while Mexico has the least (0.1).
There are fewer dentists in neighbouring Austria, for example, than in the Czech Republic, as
well as in Ireland, Switzerland, the USA and Great Britain and more dentists than recorded in
the Czech Republic in Germany, France, Sweden and Denmark. The range between
comparable countries is not very significant. This situation covers the situation in 2002. It is
important to note that the situation of Czech dentists is worsening every year with regard to
their age structure (see below).
Table 1 A Comparison of the Number of General Practitioners, Medical Specialists and
Dentists per 1,000 Inhabitants in Selected OECD Countries - 2002
Number of General
Country
Practitioners
Number of Specialists Number of Dentists
Belgium 2.1 1.8 0.8
France 1.6 1.5 0.7
Austria 1.4 1.9 0.5
Germany 1.1 2.3 0.8
Denmark 0.7 2.2 0.9
Great Britain 0.6 1.5 0.4
Switzerland 0.4 2.2 0.5
Slovakia 0.4 1.5 0.5
Czech Republic 0.7 2.5 0.7
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