Post-communist economy takes toll

[Joanne98]

LONDON, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- Male mortality rose 42 percent between 1989 and 2002 in Russia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, London researchers said.

Researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge analyzed mortality rates of men ages 15-69 in post-communist countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union between 1989 and 2002.

The researchers found that mass privatization programs were associated with a rise of 12.8 percent in short-term adult male mortality rates. They suggest unemployment, which rose by 56 percent during the period, was probably a key factor.

The five countries implemented "shock" rapid privatization, but other countries which adopted slower rates of change fared much better. The five best-performing countries were Albania, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia, which saw a 10 percent fall in male mortality and a 2 percent rise in unemployment.

Continued>>>
http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2009/01/22/Post-communist_economy_takes_toll/UPI-81191232684291/

[provis99]

1. ridiculous.

The key factor in male mortality in Russia is that the males are all a bunch of alcoholics.

[kickysnana]

2. And all American males are obese drug addicts.

:sarcasm: