The Pattern of Mass Disease in the U.S.S.R.: A Product of Socialist or Capitalist Development?

Abstract

The mortality structure of a society is determined primarily by the nature of the social organization. Although this general principle, which forms the basis of the Marxist approach to public health, has been well demonstrated in the classical model of capitalist society, there has been little attempt to apply this theory to countries that have experienced socialist revolutions. This paper examines the mortality structure of the U.S.S.R. Given the high degree of similarity between mass disease in the U.S.S.R. and Western capitalist countries, fundamental questions must be raised about the political and economic system currently operating in the U.S.S.R. It is suggested that the health experience in the Soviet Union over the last two decades has been determined primarily by the nature of the antagonistic class relations that have resulted from the restoration of capitalism.