Expression of the Principle of Social Justice in Health Care System in Rural Areas

Social justice in the field of health policy is expressed as equal rights to all, attention to particularly vulnerable risk groups, and accessibility of medical and health care services. Due to the relatively low Lithuania's economic development in the EU context and much slower-going change of values, problem of the realization of human rights to health care and social justice in our country, as in many other post-communist countries, is more relevant than in the democratic Western countries. The broader scope of this type of problem exists in rural areas which still composes one third of the country's population and where socio-economic transformation, which began after 1990 happened and is still happening more painfully and controversially. Health indicators of rural population are significantly worse than of the urban population. Research results showed that main health indicators of the population - life expectancy, morbidity, mortality and others, are worse in rural than in urban areas. This is due to many factors, among which are deep socio-psychological problems of particular part of rural population and social depression, which was caused by major social-economic changes in rural areas, caused by the emerging free market and the resulting social differentiation. Failure to adapt to the market economy stimulated the spread of alcoholism and suicide in rural areas. Worse health among rural population is caused by insufficient accessibility of health care services. Goal of the article: to reveal the expression of the principle of social justice in health care system in rural areas. Research method: comparative analysis, comparison and generalization of scientific literature, health law documents, and statistical and sociological data.