Preserving the environment in the resort of Bankya.

The town of Bankya is a balneological resort (spa) situated in a picturesque valley 17 km west from Sofia. It is a place suitable for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases and certain functional diseases of the nervous system. As a national resort, it applies stricter environmental regulations for activities that might endanger the environment, including road transport. The aim of this study was to establish the health status of Bankya townspeople before the pending construction of a highway. The morbidity of the population of Bankya and neighbouring towns and villages was compared to that of the capital Sofia for the period between 1997 and 1999. The data were statistically processed using the non-parametric, chi-square analysis. The results showed similar morbidity in children from Bankya and neighbouring towns and villages, but it was significantly lower than in children from Sofia. The results for adults were also in favour of Bankya--lower morbidity than in the neighbouring towns and villages, and less than 50% of disease cases recorded for Sofia.