Mortality in Europe: the Divergence Between East and West
France Meslé
Jacques Vallin
After a period of general convergence, the 1960s were marked by the divergence between the life expectancies of eastern European countries, where all progress came to a halt, and those of the rest of Europe where health care made large strides. A hierarchical analysis of age-specific mortality patterns shows that this divergence goes together with the development of very different patterns of age at death; in the countries of eastern Europe, and especially in the USSR, excess mortality at adult ages is spectacularly high.
Cause-specific analysis reveals the decisive role played by two kinds of diseases. On the one hand, “man-made diseases” (alcoholism, smoking, car accidents, etc.) have continued to increase in the east, whereas they were curbed in the west starting in the 1960s. On the other hand, eastern Europe was unable to join the cardiovascular revolution that had enabled the west to increase its life expectancy levels. The considerable divergence between eastern and western Europe should not hide the differences that still remain among western countries. Indeed, mortality patterns are changing in the west, and the traditional opposition between north and south is undergoing radical transformations.
Siguiendo un periodo de convergencia general de esperanzas de vida, los años sesenta se caracterizaron por la divergencia entre los países del Este, cuyo progreso se estancó, y el resto de Europa, donde se abrieron nuevas vías de progreso. Un análisis jerárquico de los perfiles de mortalidad por edad permite observar que tal divergencia coincide con el desarrollo de estructuras de mortalidad por edad muy diferentes. Los países del Este, especialmente los países de la ex – URSS, sufren una sobre – mortalidad espectacular en edades adultas.
El análisis por causas de mortalidad revela el papel decisivo de dos tipos de patología. En primer lugar, el aumento de enfermedades de sociedad (alcoholismo, tabaquismo, accidentes de circulación, etc.) continuó en el Este mientras su progreso se detenía en Occidente a partir de los años sesenta. Por otro lado, los países del Este no lograron participar en la revolución cardio – vascular gracias a la cual la esperanza de vida aumentó considerablemente en Occidente.
Esta enorme divergencia entre Europa Occidental y Europa del Este no debe eclipsar el hecho de que entre los países occidentales también existen diferencias significativas. La evolución de la estructuras de mortalidad por edad transforma radicalmente la dinámica de la oposición tradicional norte-sur.
• Age-specific mortality patterns: increasing differences
— Four groups of countries selected through hierarchical analysis
— The differentiation of age-specific mortality patterns
— Contribution of the various age groups to the variations in life expectancy
• Eastern Europe: the cardiovascular revolution has yet to begin
— Main trends in causes of death
— Contribution of the evolution of disease to the increase or decline of life expectancy
• Conclusion
• REFERENCES