The Polish country profile: economic crisis and inequalities in health

Class position based on educational level is strongly associated with health status in Poland. Whilst infant mortality continues to fall, life expectancy at age 45 is lower particularly for males. Cause of death analysis shows a steady but slow fall in poverty-type diseases and a big increase in deaths from circulatory diseases and malignant neoplasms. Multiple regression analyses suggest that the main causal factors in inequality result from economic failure, differences in living conditions and lifestyles rather than from the evident inefficiencies in the health-care system itself. But there are significant inequalities in access to health care and especially to quality care.