Spain's ageing population will strain system:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Spain's ageing population will pose "in the not too distant future" serious challenges to healthcare funding, warns health minister Celia Villalobos. There will be a growing burden on the healthcare services, precipitated by increased per capita spending power. At present, there are 6.65 million people in Spain over 65 years of age; this is expected to increase by 1.5 million within the next 25 years. Every year, Spain's public health system provides 370 million primary care appointments, 57 million specialist consultancies and covers 32 million emergency cases. The country's 480 hospitals perform 6,300 operations per day. The system has a daily budget of Pta12 billion ($60 million).