ABSTRACT
The National Health Insurance Law, which was implemented in January 1995, created the possibility of increasing equity in the allocation of health services and improving the levels of service in the south and other peripheral areas. A broad study of the National Health System in the United Kingdom revealed a great deal of variance in health status and service accessibility among regions, despite the system's aim of providing equal health services for equivalent needs. The chapter examines that despite implementation of the law, the south is still at a disadvantage regarding medical and nursing manpower inputs, the proportion of hospital beds per population, and hospital occupancy rates, relative to the centre of the country. The proportion of hospital beds per thousand population in 1994, 1996 and 1997 was lower in the south, and even in the north, than the national average.
