Survey: Health care, unemployment are Poland's biggest problems

Jul 4, 2011, 16:07 GMT

Warsaw - A crumbling health care system and high levels of unemployment are the biggest problems facing Poland, according to a survey published Monday as the country gears up for parliamentary elections in the autumn.

Some 54 per cent of those polled in the survey published by daily Gazeta Prawna said the government was not doing enough to improve health care, with long waiting times for services marring many Poles' opinion of the system.

With Poland's unemployment rate at 12.2 per cent in May, and the minimum wage at 1,350 zloty (500 dollars) a month, 39 per cent of respondents said the government was not doing enough to create jobs.

Thousands of trade unionists protested last week in Warsaw to call for higher salaries and better access to welfare in demonstrations that came as Poland took over the helm of the European Union's six-month rotating presidency.

Meanwhile, 41 per cent of those polled said not enough was being done to improve the quality of Poland's roads. Poland has one of the highest road accident rates in the EU.