http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/reprint/321/7269/1124.pdf

We are conducting a programme of research that addresses two types of question: the reasons for health inequalities between the countries of eastern and western Europe and the reasons for inequalities between social groups within these countries.3 Our starting assumption is that the causes of these two types of inequality may be similar. We contend that expanding research on the social determinants of health beyond one social context helps to understand causal relations. Eastern Europe has experienced much greater social change than western Europe. Such change was occurring in the two decades before the political, economic, and social changes that happened after 1989. Studying the health of societies in transition is a fruitful way to observe how changes in society translate into changes in health and provides an opportunity for understanding. Observing inequalities in health in countries with different forms of social organization presents the opportunity to understand better why health follows a social gradient. This paper explores both these issues. (Au)