Chapter eight
Europe - the health divide
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Smoke Free Europe - A Forum for Networks
he dramatic political changes in Europe of the late 1980s and
early 1990s created a new sense of common purpose. The European
Union was enlarging northwards and southwards and would eventually
start to consider new members from the east. The peoples of central
and eastern Europe had decades of experience of rigid state controlled
systems. Their lives were changing rapidly as their societies
were transformed to consumer economies.
This ushered in a range of problems that were neglected in the initial rush of enthusiasm for the new situation. The combination of suddenly depleted resources, aggressive western marketing and the absence of social security has been felt hard. Declining health standards and the availability of care mesh with problems resulting from years of unhealthy lifestyles. The tobacco toll is emerging in tangible forms, and is sure to broaden greatly in the absence of firm controls in many central and eastern parts of Europe.
Some time ago international relations theory came up with the concept of interdependency, which can still be applied fruitfully. The relations of nations are complex web of various dimensions. Public health is one such dimension which defines our society and the way we are. But the appreciation of the interdependency in the area of health has only recently become pronounced when we consider the situation in Europe as a whole. The clear division of the continent along health lines is reflected in many aspects of the tobacco epidemic, and this underscores the need to reassert the interdependency of health imperatives.