Health

Greece takes the bloody lead in terms of deaths and injuries in rail accidents in the EU, with about 25 victims per year. Problems are mainly caused by unsafe level crossings, poor infrastructure and traffic management systems, and understaffed companies.

Europeans are getting heavier. One in three 30-year-olds weighs more than they should, and a full half of 40-year-olds are overweight. Only 44 per cent of people do some form of exercise at least once a week.

In Western Europe and Scandinavia, people spend more on healthcare and live longer, while in Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltic States, less money is spent and life expectancy at birth is lower too. The EU average for healthcare spending is 9.9 percent of GDP. In Hungary it is 7.4 percent.

Introduced in Spain over 40 years ago, ART has allowed hundreds of thousands of infertile couples to have children. The regulation varies significantly among EU countries.

The latest European Environment Agency report shows air is getting cleaner in Europe, but persistent pollution, especially in cities, still damages people’s health and the economy.

Up to 30 percent of certain types of cancer could be prevented by eating proper amount of vegetables and fruits, according to scientific studies. However, Hungary has a poor record in both areas, especially in terms of vegetable consumption, in which it lags behind the entire European Union.

A new report published by Eurofound casts light on the issue of depression among young people in Europe. 

From Serbia to Spain – by way of Italy – vaccination has become a subject of heated debate. Given the complexity of the issue, however, the debate is only harmed by distorted, overly simplistic use of data.

The number of fatal accidents in the European Union is steadily decreasing, with the exception of Malta. However, the data shows a high degree of variation: while in Romania, 98 victims die on roads for every million inhabitants, in Sweden, that rate is only 25.

The 16 coal power plants in the western Balkans cause as much pollution as the 250 plants active within the European Union. The health impact is severe, and not just within the region.