Health care in numbers: A brief research into the general development of healthcare

Introduction

The term “healthcare” encompasses a wide variety of issues ranging from insurance coverage and workforce compensation trends to prescription drug administration and health information technology. Being able to master all matters of healthcare would likely take an excessive amount of time and research, which is why a select variety of industry topics will be covered in this article. Health care can contribute to a country's economy5. In 2014, the health care industry consumed an average of 6 percent of the GDP.
The healthcare sector in Curaçao is a mix of government agencies, state owned companies, public and private foundations and associations. On March 1st, 2004 the New Civil Law Code (Nieuw Burgelijk Wetboek) came into effect. Together with other regulations like the –Ordinance for regulation of health professionals (moratorium), it regulates healthcare good governance. In this article a brief research will be taken regarding the supply side of healthcare. The supply side of healthcare regards the primary, secondary and tertiary care. There is also the zero-line care also known as the preventive care. The supply of healthcare is meant to cover the whole population. Curaçao has a population of over 150,000 since 2011 (Table 1) and all are dependent on the healthcare that the island can provide. For example if the amount of childbearing females in the age group of 15-39 is taken, is the amount of midwives the responsible amount that is needed to cover the demand (Table 2)? It is important to take stock of the health supply that can be offered.
An overview of general healthcare numbers and other aspects will be given for the years 2001, 2010 and 2012 and subsequent years as long as the data are available. There has not been much change over the years regarding the amount of health professionals due to the fixed amount required by law. The data is collected from the VIC (‘Volksgezondheid Instituut Curaçao’) also known in English as the public healthcare institute. Other data that will be used are from the “Evaluatie van de structuur en de zorgverlening van de eerstelijnsgezondheidszorg op Curaçao” (Evaluation of the structure and healthcare of primary care on Curaçao) report, the labor force survey (LFS) and other data collected by CBS.