Health Systems in Transition - Hungary - World Health Organization ...

Health systems in transition Hungary 7
1.4 Health status
Since the end of the Second World War, the health status of the Hungarian
population has passed through four main phases. The first phase, which
lasted until the mid-1960s, saw major advances, with life expectancy at birth
reaching levels comparable to those seen in the more developed western
European countries for both men and women. Coupled with improvements in
the socioeconomic situation of the population, the early public health efforts
of the communist regime, including widespread immunization programmes,
succeeded in bringing communicable diseases under control.
During the second phase, which lasted from the mid-1960s until the late
1980s, mortality from non-communicable diseases came to play a larger role,
leading to an increasing health gap between Hungary and western Europe.
Whereas life expectancy at birth continuously improved in western European
countries during this period, it levelled off in Hungary (Table 1.3), increasing
slightly for women (from 72.2 years in 1970 to 74.0 years in 1989) and, despite
a slight upswing between 1985 and 1988, decreasing on the whole for men
(from 66.4 years in 1970 to 65.5 years in 1989) (WHO Regional Office for
Europe, 2010). Importantly, this decline in male life expectancy would have
been more pronounced if continuing improvements in infant mortality had
not counterbalanced the rise in adult mortality among men during this time.
Similar trends were seen over this period in other EU12 countries, such as the
Baltic states, but not in the Czech Republic or Slovenia (WHO Regional Office
for Europe, 2010).
Starting in 1989, there was a clear decline in health status, further widening
the gap between Hungary and the EU. This marked the beginning of a third
phase, which lasted until the mid-1990s. Among men, life expectancy at
birth decreased in Hungary by more than a year and a half between 1988 and
1993 while steadily increasing in the EU as a whole (WHO Regional Office
for Europe, 2010). This decline was unique in central Europe in this period
(Ádány, 2008). Among women, life expectancy at birth plateaued after 1989,
showing virtually no change over the next four years. During this time, the gap
also widened in relation to Poland and especially the Czech Republic, where
the effects of the transition period were less marked and the socioeconomic
recovery had begun sooner (WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2010).
The fourth phase started in the mid-1990s and has lasted until the present
day. During this time, Hungary has seen a strong and steady increase in life
expectancy at birth among men and women alike (see Table 1.3). Half of this