'Value to the System' Determined Health Care for Communist East Germany's Elderly
Posted on: Sunday, 24 July 2005, 01:56 CDT
Under the communist regime in East Germany, elderly patients' healthcare depended on whether they could contribute to the workforce, says a letter in this week's BMJ. While those working and therefore judged "valuable to the system" could access medical treatment when needed, retired patients were considered a "drain on the public purse" says Dr Herbert Nehrlich, an East German doctor now living in Australia.
X-rays and other diagnostic tests were denied people of a certain age, and retired East Germans were not hindered from travelling to the West, or staying there, he adds.
Conversely East German workers benefited from programmes to maintain and improve fitness including subsidies for sports, and breaks during the working day for sporting activities.
Health inequalities between East and West Germany should be ironed out over time, says Dr Nehrlich, although higher drinking levels in the East were "not discouraged under the communist regime" and remain a problem for those living there now.
On The Web:
Related Articles
- Premier Stelmach Quoted As Saying He Won't Trounce Royalty Deals
- Fallon Says U.S. Miscalculated Iraq
- Armstrong says Ullrich will stroll 2006 Tour: report
- Iran says still wants to enrich uranium at home
- Adidas says aims to sell 10 million World Cup balls
- China says boy has bird flu antibodies
- Russia says will defend Syria against UN sanctions
- North Korea talks next week, some reports say
- N.Korea talks next week, some reports say
- China says 6-way N.Korea talks to resume, progress
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds