[Health care of the rural population in the Cracow region during 1985-1989].

The paper presents the structure and effects of the rural public health service in the Cracow region during the period of 1985-1989 with a short description of its demographic situation. The numbers and indexes concerning medical workers (especially general practitioners, stomatologists, pediatricians and gynecologists) as well as their services demonstrate a deterioration in the efficiency of the regional rural health service. This deterioration depends on the negative changes in the general condition of the country and Cracow region, of the population and public health service. The regional data are compared with the data of the whole of Poland and its other rural regions. The authors indicate principal directions in the reform of the public health service.