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)


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Rapid Responses:

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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]
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