BMJ  2005;331 (23 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7510.0-g

Editor's choice

Untangling a skein of wool

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Democracy is good for health—studies have shown this. But the transition from totalitarianism to democracy has taken its toll on the health of people in the former Soviet bloc. In almost all countries in the region, life expectancy has fallen in the past 10-15 years, as health systems struggled to cope with the loss of centralised bureaucracies and the rise of market forces. This theme issue is a snapshot of countries in transition, presenting honest appraisals of their shared problems and diverse attempts at solving them.

The challenges facing these countries are enormous. Economic collapse after transition has fuelled epidemics of HIV (p 216) and tuberculosis. Tobacco consumption is the single biggest cause of preventable death (pp 198, 191). Corruption is still endemic and healthcare infrastructure, especially in primary care, is lacking (pp 201, 204).

Many people thought that transition would allow them to . . . [Full text of this article]

Fiona Godlee, editor

(fgodlee@bmj.com)


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Articles

Changes in dietary fat and declining coronary heart disease in Poland: population based study
Witold A Zatonski and Walter Willett
BMJ 2005 331: 187-188. [Full Text] [PDF]

Will Europe's agricultural policy damage progress on cardiovascular disease?
Karen Lock and Martin McKee
BMJ 2005 331: 188-189. [Full Text] [PDF]

Lung cancer mortality at ages 35-54 in the European Union: ecological study of evolving tobacco epidemics
Joanna Didkowska, Marta Manczuk, Ann McNeill, John Powles, and Witold Zatonski
BMJ 2005 331: 189-191. [Full Text] [PDF]

Making the transition to action
Eva Kralikova, Erzsebet Podmaniczky, Hanna Stypulkowska-Misiurewicz, Elena Kavcova, Aurelijus Veryga, and Tanith Muller
BMJ 2005 331: 191-192. [Full Text] [PDF]

Development of family medicine in Kosovo
Robert Hedley and Bajram Maxhuni
BMJ 2005 331: 201-203. [Full Text] [PDF]

Implementing general practice in Russia: getting beyond the first steps
Andrey Rese, Dina Balabanova, Kirill Danishevski, Martin McKee, and Rod Sheaff
BMJ 2005 331: 204-207. [Full Text] [PDF]

Cardiovascular risk factors in Croatia: struggling to provide the evidence for developing policy recommendations
Josipa Kern, Marija Strnad, Tanja Coric, and Silvije Vuletic
BMJ 2005 331: 208-210. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Public health reforms in Estonia: impact on the health of the population
Kaja Põlluste, Georg Männik, and Runo Axelsson
BMJ 2005 331: 210-213. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Transition and public health in the Slovak republic
Gabriel Gulis, Jarmila Korcova, Peter Letanovsky, and Daniela Marcinkova
BMJ 2005 331: 213-215. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Impact of transition on public health in Ukraine: case study of the HIV/AIDS epidemic
Diane DeBell and Richard Carter
BMJ 2005 331: 216-219. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Croatian healthcare system in transition, from the perspective of users
Miroslav Mastilica and Sanja Kusec
BMJ 2005 331: 223-226. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Patients' empowerment: the East side story
Piotr Mierzewski
BMJ 2005 331: 226-227. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Managing healthcare reform in Hungary: challenges and opportunities
Miklós K Szócska, János M Réthelyi, and Charles Normand
BMJ 2005 331: 231-233. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Projectitis? Supporting health reform
Peter D Toon
BMJ 2005 331: 243. [Extract] [Full Text]

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

How widely can these principles be applied?
Angshu Bhowmik
bmj.com, 24 Jul 2005 [Full text]
Re: How widely can these principles be applied?
Charles A Akle
bmj.com, 29 Jul 2005 [Full text]
Access all current jobs at BMJ Group
Whats new online at Student BMJ
Listen to the latest BMJ Interview