It has been revealed that only 10 per cent of Romanians have a private health insurance or a subscription to a private health facility.

The revelation comes as new figures suggest that despite the recession a growing number of people in the UK are ditching the NHS for private medical insurance.

According to the data presented by the head of an insurance company in the country, only about 9.2 per cent of the population in Bucharest had a private health insurance, while the percentage of those in the provinces is about 11.6 per cent.

However a study earlier this year showed that most workers chose private health insurance as the most important benefit they wanted from their jobs.

But private health insurance market has not been doing too impressively due to the absence of financial and medical education amongst the low-income earners, said a report.

Others problems like poor infrastructure, decreasing number of medical staff and the lack of professional management for hospitals etc are among factors considered a hindrance.