Health and health systems in the Commonwealth of Independent States

The countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States differ substantially in their post-Soviet economic development but face many of the same challenges to health and health systems. Life expectancies dropped steeply in the 1990s, and several countries have yet to recover the levels noted before...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	The Lancet (British edition) 2013-03, Vol.381 (9872), p.1145-1155
Main Authors:	Rechel, Bernd, Dr, Roberts, Bayard, PhD, Richardson, Erica, PhD, Shishkin, Sergey, Prof, Shkolnikov, Vladimir M, Prof, Leon, David A, Prof, Bobak, Martin, Prof, Karanikolos, Marina, MSc, McKee, Martin, Prof
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Adult Aged alcohol drinking Cardiovascular disease cardiovascular diseases Commonwealth of Independent States Community Health Planning Cross-Cultural Comparison economic development Economic growth Female Financing, Personal GDP Gross Domestic Product Health Expenditures health services Health Status Indicators Health Transition Humans Infant mortality Internal Medicine Life Expectancy Male Men Mens health Middle Aged Population Population Density Public Health social inequality Studies
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Summary:	The countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States differ substantially in their post-Soviet economic development but face many of the same challenges to health and health systems. Life expectancies dropped steeply in the 1990s, and several countries have yet to recover the levels noted before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Cardiovascular disease is a much bigger killer in the Commonwealth of Independent States than in western Europe because of hazardous alcohol consumption and high smoking rates in men, the breakdown of social safety nets, rising social inequality, and inadequate health services. These former Soviet countries have embarked on reforms to their health systems, often aiming to strengthen primary care, scale back hospital capacities, reform mechanisms for paying providers and pooling funds, and address the overall shortage of public funding for health. However, major challenges remain, such as frequent private out-of-pocket payments for health care and underdeveloped systems for improvement of quality of care.
ISSN:	0140-6736 1474-547X