Development of Public Health in Independent Georgia

Abstract

Reorganization of healthcare system in Georgia was based on the development of public health, aiming to activate of preventive medicine and operate efficient tools of epidemiological surveillance. This paper seeks to explore the attitudes and values which underlie public health reform in Georgia, and to investigate the goals of reform and the strategies designed to achieve them. The article is based on a documentary analysis, which included official documents and non-official journal publications. Georgia was the only country (except the Baltic states) to abandon the soviet system of Sanitary-Epidemiological Service, completely reorganizing it and establishing a new public health infrastructure, built on European principles. The reorganization of the Sanitary-Epidemiological Service implied the separation of supervisory (sanitary control) and executive functions, typical of the Soviet system. As a result, the Public Health Department and the Department for Sanitary Supervision and Hygienic Regulation were established. In terms of decentralization, the funds out of four elements of healthcare system (financing, Policy Development, Standard definition, Management and Administration) were distributed at central, regional and municipal levels. The role of public health is especially increasing in the modern globalized world, when the epidemics of infectious diseases have become topical. In globalized world, the public health challenges go beyond national borders and interests, having huge global political and economic consequences. Therefore, modern public healthcare is reviewed in a global context and requires international regulations, transnational actions and solutions based on coordinated cooperation among different countries of the world. Keywords: Public health, health care reforms, prevention, healthy lifestyle. JEL Codes: H51, H75, I18