In the European Union (EU), 3.6% of people aged 16 and above reported unmet needs for medical examination or treatment in 2018.

The most frequently reported reason was the treatment being unaffordable. 1.0% of people aged 16 and above said the treatment they needed was “too expensive”. The next most common reasons for not being treated were the existence of a “waiting list” (0.9%) or because people “wanted to wait and see if the problem got better on its own” (0.6%).

Greece reported by far the highest share of people with unmet medical needs due to treatment being unaffordable (8.3%), followed by Latvia (4.2%), Romania (3.4%), Italy (2.0%), Belgium (1.7%), Portugal (1.6%), Bulgaria (1.5%), Cyprus (1.4%) and Poland (1.1%).

In contrast, the lowest shares were reported in Czechia and Finland (close to 0.0%), whilst in majority of the EU Member States, less than 1% of the population reported unmet medical needs for financial reasons.

This news is published by Eurostat on the occasion of Universal Health Coverage Day (12 December).

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