Slovaks sicker sooner than European neighbours

Slovakia has the eighth highest mortality rate among the EU-member states, reported the Hospodárske Noviny daily on Tuesday. Even though the country's economy as well as the standard of living have been increasing, compared to other developed European countries only few Slovaks are healthy in their retirement age. The news daily added that women in Slovakia tend to be healthy until they are on average 55.1 years old, and men until they are 54.8 years old. According to Eurostat, Slovakia ranks among the last four EU-member states in terms of healthy life years, meaning the number of years that a person is expected to continue to live in a healthy condition. In its report on Slovakia, the European Commission pointed out that the country has been lagging behind in terms of improving people's health condition. Slovakia lacks a national plan for combating cancer and there is also a low rate of preventive screening in this regard. The Health Ministry told the news daily that it is aware of the issue and that it has been working on adopting action plans in this fashion.