How Neoliberalism Undermines the Health of the Polish Population

The authors analyse the subsequent stages of development of neoliberal solutions in the health system during the three decades of political transformation. They also attempt to determine the correlation of these solutions with the deteriorating health indicators of the population over the last two decades, which culminated in the pandemic health crisis with a large number of excess deaths and a reduction in life expectancy. The neoliberal approach in health policy means the incorporation of market mechanisms, such as competitiveness, commercialisation, outsourcing, privatisation, to entities traditionally outside the market, for example, hospitals, specialist clinics, and laboratories. As in Great Britain, it was important to gain acceptance from society and the medical community under the slogans of economic necessity, reducing inefficiency, and increasing innovation. The lack of these effects means that neoliberal ideologists look for the causes of failure outside their system, blaming, for example, the ageing of the population, shortage of financial resources and medical staff, low level of health awareness in society, and currently a pandemic. A critical analysis of the current care system inspired by the scholarship of Tadeusz Kowalik and the demand for its reorientation may provide an opportunity to reverse negative health trends in Poland.