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The elderly population of Romania exceeded the young by over 20%
Romania urgently needs more than 50.000 nurses to face the health challenges of the coming years generated by the aging population and the sharp deterioration in the health of vulnerable categories, especially children and the elderly, according to an analysis by the consulting company Frames.
Citing the data provided by the National Statistics Institute, the company shows that the elderly population of our country exceeded by more than 20% the young population, aged up to 14 years, and the prospects for the next years indicate an increase of this phenomenon.
The number of those over 65, for example surpassed 3.8 million people (17.5% out of the total) while the number of children is only 3.19 million (14.5%).
On 1st January 2022, the highest percentage in the total of the population was of the age group 50 -54 (8.9%), a category which in 10-15 years is going to retire.
As regards the health condition, the life expectation in Romania is among the lowest in Europe. Cardiovascular diseases are the main causes of mortality, while lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer deaths.
The medical statistics show that almost half of the total of deaths are caused by risky behavior as regards health.
The rate of alcohol consumption and unhealthy food among the Romanians is higher by comparison to the EU average. The excess in weight, obesity and smoking among teenagers are high in Romania and have constantly increased over the two decades.
According to the Frames study, due to such issues, Romania needs a national plan for the training in the domain of medical assistance.
According to Eurostat, in spite of the increase in the number of employees over the last decade, the number of doctors and nurses is much under the EU average.
In 2019, there were 3.2 practitioners for 1,000 inhabitants, this number being one of the lowest in the EU ( the EU average being 3.9) and 7.5 nurses for 1,000 inhabitants ( the EU average being 8.4).
According to ‘ the Study regarding the situation of nurses in public sanitary units in Romania’ made by the Centre for Research and Social Development ‘ Solidaritatea’ over the last 23 years the number of nurses has decreased by 25% while the number of patients has increased by 12%.
The analysts say that it is possible that the number of nurses who left the country to work abroad could be 100,000, Romania being probably the highest supplier of nurses on the European work market, as the Romanian public health system is facing the highest deficit of nurses until now.
In our country, the avoidable mortality rate is the third highest in the EU, the main causes of which are cardiovascular diseases, lung cancer and alcohol-related deaths.
Mortality from treatable causes is more than twice the EU average and includes treatable deaths from prostate and breast cancer,” says the State of Health in the EU-Romania 2021 report by the European Commission.
According to the Atlas of marginalized Rural areas and local Human Development in Romania, conducted by the World Bank and the EBRD, Vaslui has the highest rural marginalization rate in the country, calculated as access to medical services, of about 23% (almost four times the national average), Along with eight other counties (Ia?i, Covasna, Brasov, Botosani, Gala?i, Bacau, Sibiu and Mehedinti), the existing rural marginalization being 9-15% of the total rural population.
Official estimates show that the aging of the population will increase in the coming years The sudden exit from the workforce of more than 1,8 million people, “decrees” as they are known, will generate significant pressure on the medical system.
The information included in this study will be presented in the Conference of the medical community ‘ The Nurse, from training to hiring’ which will take place on 12th May at Hotel Caro.
The study used information presented by the National Institute for Statistics, of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) investigation of Health Behaviour in School-Age Children (HBSC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) as well as other national sources such as the Centre for Research and Social Development ‘ Solidaritatea’.