In spite of widespread expectations of improvements in living standards and health conditions, in most of the countries of the former Soviet bloc the transition to the market economy was accompanied by a sharp increase in (already high) death rates. Such an increase provoked an 'excess mortality' of some three million people over the period 1989-96 alone, an unprecedented phenomenon in peacetime. Such a crisis remains poorly explained, has generated a limited policy response in the countries concerned and international organizations, and is bound to generate important political and economic repercussions. This book is the first comprehensive assessment of the mortality crisis in transitional economies, of its causes, and of its remedies on the basis - among others - of micro data sets and quasi-panels on health trends which have never been used before. Contributions by demographers, economists, sociologists, epidemiologists, and health experts provide a rigorous analysis of the upsurge in mortality rates, with the aim of contributing to the launch of vigorous policies to tackle the crisis.

This book is an attempt to analyse the unfavourable developments in the dynamics of mortality and life expectancy in post- communist countries in the global context. It appears that this mortality crisis in post-communist countries has a lot of similarities with the recent unfavourable developments in health status in developed countries and many developing countries. Such unfavourable trends have been caused by socio-economic, ânon-material' factors, namely by a loss of social dynamism and/or stress, associated with economic restructuring and social adjustments. First, the stagnation of life expectancy in the former Soviet Union in 1965-90, after the rapid increase in 1920-65, is an important, under-researched phenomenon that enables study of the impact of the loss of social dynamism on health status. Second, the decline in life expectancy in the 1990s enables study of the impact of social stress on health status. Simplifying things, one can say that in the first case, life expectancy did not improve because there were too few changes in life, whereas in the second case, it declined due to excess changes that created stress. In both cases, however, the problem is that of finding an optimal measure of social changes that are beneficial to the quality of life and its longevity. The main goal of this book is to analyse common reasons for these developments in order to derive lessons from the experiences of particular countries.

A New York Times Bestseller A Wall Street Journal Bestseller A New York Times Notable Book of 2020 A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice Shortlisted for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year A New Statesman Book to Read From economist Anne Case and Nobel Prize winner Angus Deaton, a groundbreaking account of how the flaws in capitalism are fatal for America's working class Deaths of despair from suicide, drug overdose, and alcoholism are rising dramatically in the United States, claiming hundreds of thousands of American lives. Anne Case and Angus Deaton explain the overwhelming surge in these deaths and shed light on the social and economic forces that are making life harder for the working class. As the college educated become healthier and wealthier, adults without a degree are literally dying from pain and despair. Case and Deaton tie the crisis to the weakening position of labor, the growing power of corporations, and a rapacious health-care sector that redistributes working-class wages into the pockets of the wealthy. This critically important book paints a troubling portrait of the American dream in decline, and provides solutions that can rein in capitalism's excesses and make it work for everyone.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the mortality crisis which affected Eastern Europe and the republics of the former USSR at the time of the transition to a market economy was arguably the major peacetime health crisis of recent decades. Chernobyl and the Mortality Crisis in Eastern Europe and the Old USSR discusses the importance of that crisis, surprisingly underplayed in the scientific literature, and presents evidence suggesting a potential role of the Chernobyl disaster among the causes contributing to it.

In 2015, building on the advances of the Millennium Development Goals, the United Nations adopted Sustainable Development Goals that include an explicit commitment to achieve universal health coverage by 2030. However, enormous gaps remain between what is achievable in human health and where global health stands today, and progress has been both incomplete and unevenly distributed. In order to meet this goal, a deliberate and comprehensive effort is needed to improve the quality of health care services globally. Crossing the Global Quality Chasm: Improving Health Care Worldwide focuses on one particular shortfall in health care affecting global populations: defects in the quality of care. This study reviews the available evidence on the quality of care worldwide and makes recommendations to improve health care quality globally while expanding access to preventive and therapeutic services, with a focus in low-resource areas. Crossing the Global Quality Chasm emphasizes the organization and delivery of safe and effective care at the patient/provider interface. This study explores issues of access to services and commodities, effectiveness, safety, efficiency, and equity. Focusing on front line service delivery that can directly impact health outcomes for individuals and populations, this book will be an essential guide for key stakeholders, governments, donors, health systems, and others involved in health care.

Evidence-based Policy Making in Labor Economics distills and condenses the best thinking and research on labor economic issues to enable decision makers make better informed policy decisions. Written by well-known labor economists worldwide, research findings on key policy issues are presented in a compact and readable format, as distillations of comprehensive evidence-based research with concise policy recommendations. Designed to act as a quick reference, this guide brings together summaries of over 100 articles published on IZA World of Labor to give busy policymakers and political advisors worldwide instant access to reliable and up-to-date guidance on key policy topics including: asylum and immigration policy, youth unemployment and life-long learning, innovation, and technological change.

This handbook presents a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of unprecedented substantive, theoretical, methodological, and statistical developments and insights, and an in-depth examination of trends and patterns, in adult mortality around the world. With over two dozen chapters and more than 50 authors, this volume draws from top international mortality experts to provide one of the best overviews of life expectancy extant. The book documents remarkable gains in life expectancy, which stand out as one of the most important accomplishments of the twentieth century. Individuals in more developed countries can expect to live longer now than ever before, especially the Japanese who enjoy record-setting life expectancies. The book also explores unfortunate declines in life expectancy in selected countries brought on by such factors as infectious diseases; accidents, suicides, and homicides; and political and economic conflict and turmoil. This book synthesizes the wealth of mortality information available, clearly articulates the central findings to-date, identifies the most appropriate datasets and methods currently available, illuminates the central research questions, and develops an agenda to address these research questions. The authors carefully examine central factors related to mortality, including health behaviors, socioeconomic status, social relations, biomarkers, and genetic factors. The book will prove especially relevant to researchers, students, and policy makers within social and health sciences who want to better understand international trends and patterns in adult mortality.