Slovaks have shortest period of health in EU

Slovaks enjoy good health for the shortest period of time among citizens of EU-member states, wrote the Hospodárske Noviny in a story on Tuesday. While Europeans generally start experiencing more serious medical problems at 62 years of age on average, Slovaks fall prey to such illnesses at around 55 on average. The reasons for this are the inherent unhealthy lifestyles of Slovak citizens, an underestimation of the value of regular check-ups at doctors and a lack of prevention, despite Slovak law stipulating that every insured person has the right to a check-up once per year. INEKO analyst Jan Kovalčík said that there is a lack of attempts to raise awareness in terms of having a healthy lifestyle. The Health Ministry doesn't reserve any money for such programmes or projects. "Nor is there any legislative background that would compel health insurance companies to cover prevention with greater chunks of money", added Kovalčík. Slovakia records a very high number of bowel cancers connected to unhealthy diets and lifestyles.