The citizens of Macedonia contribute part of their income to health and medical care. This has made it possible for the health service to be free and accessible to every citizen. The health service is provided through a widespread network of medical institutions.

The progress and tremendous results achieved in the field of health care can best be seen if we remember the past of this country. Only fifty years ago, Macedonia was a region with widespread epidemics of many contagious diseases. Each year, more than 300,000 people suffered from malaria alone. Today this disease has been completely eradicated. In 1939, Macedonia had only 9 hospitals with a total of 868 beds. As many as 154 of 1,000 newly-born died. At the end of the Second World War, Macedonia had only 123 medical doctors and dentists.

The health care of the population of the Republic of Macedonia is provided in 17 health care institutions, and 16 medical centers with a big number of working units, clinics and offices distributed in the cities and around 300 medical units in the villages, one individual health station, one General City Hospital, 6 specialized hospitals, 9 institutions, 3 centers for special kinds of diseases, 3 natural clinics, one Clinical Center and one Dentistry Clinical Center, as well as 818 private health organizations.

The spatial conditions for health care almost in all health organizations meet the needs, because most of the facilities have been built for certain purposes in the last 20 years and they provide an appropriate standard for offering health care services.

Parallel to the intensive development of the network of health care organizations is the process of their appropriate personnel coverage. The number of health care workers has been increased in all areas, and especially of medical doctors with university degrees.

Health care in the public sector health care organizations in the country for 1998 was conducted by 6,342 health care professionals with university degrees: 4,501 doctors, 1,144 dentists, 329 pharmacists, and 368 health care cooperators. In the health care service there are also 665 health care professionals with two-year college degrees and 10,075 with high school degrees. According to these data, in the health care organizations there is total of 24,121 employees, together with the 621 low qualified workers and 6,418 administrative and technical employees.

Top medical care is provided by the clinics of the University of Sts. Cyrilus and Methodius School of Medicine, some of which have earned an international reputation and receive patients from abroad.

The number of private medical and dental surgeries is increasing every day.