Equity in Health and Health Care in Hungary

Agota Szende, MSc, PhD, is a health economist trained at the
University of York. Her work includes the design and
implementation of economic analyses of medical technologies,
health outcomes, health care systems, and policy making.

While the improvement of the overall level of health
of the population continues to be a high priority,
there is an increasing concern about the
distribution of health within the population and the
fairness of health care systems. The objective of
this book is to provide a comprehensive assessment
of income-related equity in health and health care
and to explore the value of using health-related
quality of life measurement in this application.
Cross-sectional analyses were performed based on
data from post-transitional period in Hungary. Based
on most recent analytic methods, the book reveals
substantial income-related health inequalities with
pain/discomfort being the principal contributor,
and highlights the potential role of pain
management programmes in policy-making. The
research also finds that a significant part of
income-related inequity in delivery of care turns
out not to be directly linked to income but to other
social, economic and geographical characteristics
that are, however, associated with income level.
This book is a must for those concerned about health
inequalities and research methods to measure
them.