Health index for the Czech districts calculated via methods of multicriteria evaluation of alternatives

The aim of this paper is to calculate the health index for each of the 77 Czech districts to identify the best and worst districts from this perspective. The health index is constructed as a composite indicator of 8 different areas covering 60 criteria. The index reduces the size of the original set of indicators, which allows its clear and easy interpretation, including its spatial differentiation. Thanks to this, the results can be a suitable basis for decision-making by state administration and self-government bodies or other organizations dealing with the issue of population health. The data come from publicly available databases of the Czech Statistical Office, the Institute of Health Information and Statistics of the Czech Republic, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute and the Czech Panel Survey of Households. For the health index construction, the methodology using selected methods of multicriteria evaluation of alternatives is described. With regard to the available data, methods using numerical input, weights of criteria and determining the complete order of alternatives were analyzed and used.