Health and health care in transitional Europe

doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7510.169

BMJ 2005;331:169-170 (23 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7510.169

Editorial

Health and health care in transitional Europe

Evidence based policy making and greater public participationare needed

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

In December 2004 we called for papers that would document theimpact on population health and on health systems of the transitionfrom communism in Europe and central Asia.^w1 Over the past 18months, a series of events has focused the eyes of the worldon this region. May 2004 saw the historic enlargement of theEuropean Union. In Georgia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan, popularuprisings have led to the removal of autocratic regimes; inUzbekistan, a similar uprising ended in tragedy. Yet, despitecoming to the attention of the world's mass media, this vastregion characterised by diversity and shared problems has generatedsurprisingly few publications on health and health care. Wehope that this theme issue—most of it contributed by researchersand authors from the region—will fill some of these gapsand will further stimulate much needed monitoring, research,and debate.