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Poland Health Conditions
In the two decades after World War II, the health of
Poland's
people improved overall, as antibiotics became available
and the
standard of living rose in most areas. In the 1970s and
1980s,
however, alarming trends appeared in certain national
health
statistics. Between 1970 and 1986, the mortality rate rose
from
8.1 to 10.1 persons per 1,000, and from 8.8 to 10.9 males
per
1,000. The increase was sharpest among males between the
ages of
forty-five and fifty-four. For the same period, working
days lost
because of illness or accidents increased by 45 percent
(see
table 8, Appendix). Between 1988 and 1991, the incidence
of
newborns requiring intensive care rose from 2.9 to 4.5
percent.
Experts listed the major contributing factors as high
levels of
air and water pollution, unsatisfactory working
conditions,
overcrowded housing, psychological depression because of
deteriorating economic conditions, poorly balanced diets,
alcoholism, and deterioration of health services,
especially in
prenatal and postnatal care.
(see
Environmental Conditions and Crises;
Housing
, this ch.).
Data as of October 1992
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