Why is this study important?
The overall aim of this project is to contribute to the improvement of the health of the populations in the countries concerned, by producing policy-relevant evidence on population health and its socio-economic determinants and communicating these findings to key decision-makers.
HITT-CIS will bring concrete benefits by influencing policy in ways that will support health by:
- disseminating findings within each country and to EU policymakers and international researchers;
- identifying policy implications based upon informed research.
Background information
(From HITT-CIS predecessor project . 2000 – 2003)
- Health gap between CIS and Europe growing since 1960s
- Dramatic increase in mortality following collapse of Soviet Union especially amongst men in mid-life
- Increase in poor health especially amongst women
- Key role of non-communicable diseases
- Collapse health system in 1990s
- Living Conditions, Lifestyles and Health research project
- Download LLH Project PDF
Direct relevance to the international dimension of the public health policy of the European Community
The countries that are the focus of HITT-CIS are of major strategic importance to the European Union. Six of the countries participate in the European Neighbourhood Policy and thus receive direct EU support to strengthen their economies and democratic systems. Russia has a separate special relationship with the EU covering covering four “common spaces”. The EU also has important links with the Central Asian countries, in areas ranging from trade to security. Clearly, the presence of healthy, politically stable, and prosperous countries in this region is becoming even more important given Europe’s growing dependence on them as sources of oil and gas.
