Editor's Introduction: Health Care in Russia and Ukraine

摘要

This issue of Problems of Economic Transition addresses health-care problems in Russia and Ukraine. In the Soviet Union there were more doctors, healthcare workers, and hospitals on a per capita basis than in any other country. The medical system was completely socialized; the government provided free health care to all citizens while all health-care personnel were state employees. The effectiveness of the centralized model, and consequently, the quality of health care, declined with underinvestment. By the early 1980s medical care had slipped below Western standards. Meanwhile, the health of the Russian population worsened significantly due to a number of social, economic, and lifestyle changes.