European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies

By Marc Suhrcke, Lorenzo Rocco, Martin McKee, Stefano Mazzuco, Dieter Urban and Alfred Steinherr
2007, xv + 69 pages
ISBN 978 92 890 2190 6
Free of charge

This study by the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies examines two important questions:

• What effect has adult ill health, particularly noncommunicable diseases and injuries, had on the Russian economy and the economic outcomes of the people living there?
• If the excessive burden of adult ill health in the Russian Federation were reduced, what economic benefits would result?

The answers are unambiguous: poor adult health negatively affects economic wellbeing and, if effective action were taken, better health would help sustain higher economic growth rates.

Though based on the Russian Federation, the findings apply equally to other transitional economies and should be read with interest by policy-makers throughout the eastern part of the WHO European Region.