Trends in Avoidable Mortality in the Central and Eastern European Countries

Ivana Kulhanova, Charles University in Prague
Olga Sivkova, Charles University in Prague

The aim of the study of avoidable mortality is to analyze the trends and the impact of medical treatment and health care in the selected Central and Eastern European countries since 1980 up to the recent years. Since the collapse of the communist regime, mortality has improved rapidly. The concept of avoidable mortality has been used as a methodological instrument for measuring of efficiency of the health care system in order to reduce the intensity of mortality in population. Using the method of decomposition of the temporary life expectancy, contributions of each category of causes of death were investigated. The results of time analysis show that improvements in health care and prevention, and changes in lifestyle significantly contribute to the increase of the temporary life expectancy. On the contrary, impact of the health care system was not shown in the study of differences in mortality between observed countries