M McKee

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..In contrast, the health gap has widened...

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..This is a commentary on http://www.ijhpr.org/content/1/1/1/..

..Such a Fund could use established and effective strategies for aid delivery to mitigate many financial problems currently undermining the Millennium Development Goals initiative...

..In order to address this study question which focuses on exposures acting shortly before sudden death, a cohort would be unfeasibly large and would suffer from recruitment bias...

..Many countries sought to reform this service following the political transition in the 1990s. In this paper we describe the major themes within these reforms...

..This paper asks whether the health crisis in Turkmenistan is attributable to the consequences of the dictatorship under president Niyazov, who died in 2006...

..Signed consent is obtained from those in the intervention arm at this point. Both groups are then invited for 3 and 12 month follow ups. The control group will not receive any additional intervention. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN82405938...

..The aim of this study was to determine whether the introduction of National Health Insurance (NHI) in Taiwan in 1995 was associated with a change in deaths from causes amenable to health care...

..This paper describes subsequent trends and determinants of healthcare insurance coverage in Russia, and its relationship with health service utilisation, as well as the role of the private sector...

..The VF-14 visual function instrument offers a possible means of monitoring outcomes of cataract surgery. This article examines lessons learned in the course of an attempt to do this...

..Yet while public health practitioners, on their own, may indeed be relatively powerless, together they can achieve a great deal. Part 2 of this glossary explores some of the strategies that they can use as they seek to make a difference...

..Yet while public health practitioners, on their own, may indeed be comparatively powerless, together they can achieve a great deal. Part I of this glossary explores a range of issues that arise as they seek to make a difference...

..Contemporary legislative and constitutional developments in the United Kingdom for public health. This article explores these implications...

..In this population, where there is a high death rate from alcohol-related causes, including acute alcohol poisoning, it was important to know what these products contained...

..Since then, the situation is likely to have changed; economic decline has coincided with migration and widening social inequalities, potentially increasing disparities within and between countries...

..Public health professionals must ensure that their actions do not undermine their credibility, in particular those involved in response to the threat of bioterrorism...

..Health systems performance should be monitored, with clear lines of accountability, and reforms should build on evidence of what works in what circumstances...

..However, there are other things that are legitimately traded where restrictions may be needed, such as alcohol. Global trade is simply a means to an end. The ultimate goal must include better health for all...

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..It argues that conventional approaches to tackling organised crime often have deleterious consequences for public health, and calls for an evidence-based approach with a focus on outcomes rather than ideology...

..It concludes by reviewing the need for better information to document the scale of inequalities, to evaluate interventions designed to reduce them, and to disseminate evidence of good practice...

..Overall, evidence on the effectiveness of policies relating to hospitals is limited and this paper indicates where such evidence can be found...

..In particular, public health has largely failed in its role as an advocate of the health of the population. There are, however, many encouraging signs that this may change in the future...

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..This information is important for those seeking to develop effective policies to tackle this issue...

..This could provide the populations with a reduced risk and increased protection against non-communicable diseases. These issues will need to be tackled through comprehensive food and nutrition policies and health promotion campaigns...

..While it is widely believed that the health of Roma people is often poorer than the majority population, these inequalities remain largely unresearched...

..To explore how British American Tobacco (BAT), having established cigarette imports, responded to the opportunities for investment in cigarette manufacturing in the former Soviet Union (FSU)...

..To examine the long term evolution of mortality in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) in the period from 1960 and its specific position in health terms compared with the Federal Republic (FRG) in the west and Poland in the east...

..Changes in the prevalence of smoking in Russia between 1996 and 2004, and whether theses changes differed by sociodemographic groups, were investigated...

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..To date policy responses have been inadequate. Unless effective tobacco control policies are introduced, tobacco will continue to make an increasingly large contribution to premature morbidity and mortality in Belarus...

..To identify British American Tobacco's (BAT) reasons for targeting the former Soviet Union following its collapse in 1991 and the initial strategies BAT used to enter the region...

..This paper seeks to explore the impact that the substantial transnational tobacco company investments have had on patterns of tobacco trade and consumption in the former Soviet Union...

..It is argued that governments and those advising them must place greater emphasis on the challenges of implementation, including the development of a much better understanding of the context within which change must take place...

..To study trends in diabetes awareness and care in post-transition Russia, at a time of increased all-cause and diabetic mortality and disrupted health care...

..This paper examined self-perceived health in Bulgaria in relation to financial status (measured by income and self-assessed financial status) after adjustment for other potential explanatory variables...

..The targets for health are based on improvements in infant, child and maternal mortality. Progress towards these goals will be used to assess the effectiveness of development policies...

..To identify factors underlying the reduction in neonatal mortality in the Czech Republic during the 1990s and to identify scope for further improvements...

..To determine how the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes mellitus has changed in Tirana, the capital of Albania, over 20 years...

..To estimate the prevalence of hazardous drinking and its socio-economic distribution among Russian men...

..There is, however, still a substantial regional variation in infant mortality that is largely determined by postneonatal mortality...

..To investigate the impact of including private-sector data on assessments of equity of coronary revascularisation provision using NHS data only...

..To develop a methodology and an instrument that allow the simultaneous rapid and systematic examination of the broad public health context, the health care systems, and the features of disease-specific programmes...

..The industry introduced serious bias that probably influenced scientific and public opinion in Germany. This influence likely undermined efforts to control tobacco use...

..However, the possibility remains that such deaths are misclassified as being attributable to cardiovascular disease when they are really caused by acute alcohol poisoning...

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..There is also a need to develop non-governmental organizations that have sufficient capacity to undertake their own analyses and to place issues on the agenda...

..This work has informed the application of an evaluation toolkit which has been successfully applied in a number of settings and assisted in the sustainable implementation of a DOTS strategy in Russia...

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..Access to affordable, high-quality fresh foods by different social groups should be monitored and the potential contribution of home-grown and raised foods to reduce food poverty should be explored further...

..Previous research has identified the role of social capital in explaining variations in health in the countries of the former Soviet Union. This study explores whether the benefits of social capital vary among these countries and why...

..There is particular interest in establishing this following the introduction of new federal regulations in January 2006 aimed at restricting the availability of these products...

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..6 years, having fallen by 6.2 years since 1990. There has been concern that such striking fluctuations in mortality are an artefact, although, among other factors, alcohol consumption has been implicated...

..To explore medical specialists' attitudes to clinical governance in acute hospitals and factors influencing these attitudes...

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..Previous work has described the situation in Germany...

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..To assess the utility of data already existing within hospitals for monitoring patient safety...

..There is a need for further research into the health of Roma people with particular emphasis on non-communicable disease and for interventions that would improve their health...

..Although Russian women have adequate knowledge of modern contraceptives, their level of use of these methods has been low, and abortion rates remain relatively high...

..The challenge for surveillance in Europe is to ensure that it has the capacity to meet both the needs of today and the diseases of the future...

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..Male life expectancy in the Russian Federation, at 60 years, is the lowest in Europe. Several factors contribute to this situation, but hazardous consumption of alcohol is especially a key factor...

..A fairly distinct east-west pattern in the birthweight distribution present in 1991 had almost disappeared by 1997 and given way to a north-south one...

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..Obtaining detailed and valid estimates of dietary intakes in more countries around the world will be essential for such comparisons...

..It concludes by examining areas where the College might take action...

..We sought to provide comparative data on smoking habits in countries of the former Soviet Union...

..To estimate the burden of disease attributable to low fruit and vegetable intake in the 15 countries that were members of the European Union (EU) before May 2004 (EU-15) and the 10 countries that then joined it (EU-10)...

..Multilateral financial organisations promoting tobacco industry privatisation could ensure their loan conditions protect public health by making the implementation of tobacco control policies a pre-requisite for privatisation...

..A clear policy response to informal payments is, however, lacking. The current study explores informal payments in Bulgaria within a conceptual framework developed by triangulating information using a variety of methodologies...

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..This study points to the need for comprehensive policies on alcohol in Germany to close the persisting east-west health gap...

..This study sought to describe the evolution of the Russian compulsory health insurance system and to identify factors associated with noncoverage...