The mortality situation and its spatial dimension in Hungary

The aim of this study is to examine Hungarian mortality situation and to analyse its spatial aspects. The conclusion is the marked deterioration in Hungarian health has been going on since the middle of the 1960s. The extremely high morbidity and mortality situation in Hungary is almost unparalleled among the post Socialist Countries and currently worse situations can only be found amongst the recent former states of the Soviet Union. The rate of death in Hungary caused by malignant neoplasm is currently the highest anywhere in Europe. The state of health of the Hungarian population is worse than justifi ed by the level of economic development. There are signifi cant mortality differentials between the Western and the Eastern half of the country. The difference between the average life expectancy of the counties of the best and the worst values is 2.5 years. The outcome of this research project can be used in practical planning tasks as background material and can provide a lot of valuable information regarding the social groups concerned.