1 Introduction
The World Health Organization has issued several
reports and studies on the link between health and
poverty. The conclusion is that poverty is the most
important risk factor for poor health and premature
death, while poor health can, in turn, lead to poverty
if appropriate state measures are not in place (1).
Marmot adds that the reduction of health inequalities
is a matter of justice. The social gradient in health has
been proved. The lower a person is positioned on
the social ladder, the worse his/her health condition,
which indicates that social inequalities influence health
inequalities (2). Although it is important to reduce the
differences along the entire social gradient, the health
of poor people is the most acute problem. Poverty is
a multi-dimensional phenomenon and it is present to
varying extents in all the countries of the world. It is
measured based on the socially determined threshold
of a decent or acceptable way of life. The threshold of
poverty is calculated either based on the collectively
determined quantity of goods and services necessary
for livelihood – e.g. food, drinking water, housing and
basic health care (absolute poverty), or based on the
distribution of income expressed as a percentage of the
median of income per family member (relative poverty).
Relative poverty is more revealing of inequalities than
poverty itself, since it is assessed based on the available
income. People who live in poverty more often live in
poor housing, receive inadequate health care and have
less options for education and life-long learning. This
can lead to unemployment, further reduce their income
and eventually end in social exclusion. Poor people also
more often face obstacles in exercising their basic rights
(3). Slovenia has a rather low level of relative poverty
– during the 2005-2009 period it varied from 11.3 to
12.3 percent. However, the latest data indicate that
relative poverty has substantially increased, reaching
12.7 percent in 2010. Exhaustive data for 2010 has not
yet been published, so this text will rely on the data for
2009. Throughout this period, the risk of poverty has
been higher for women. In 2009, the risk for men was
9.8% compared to 12.8% for women. The greatest