Changes in the health situation of the population of Poland following the accession to the European Union (Compared to central and eastern european countries)

The main objective of study is to present the health situation of the inhabitants of Poland. This was accomplished both in temporal and spatial depiction. The secondary goal is to show the health situation in Poland in comparison to other European post-Communist countries. To describe the health situation five variables are used: crude death rate, infant mortality, incidence of tuberculosis, incidence of HIV/AIDS, and life expectancy. The changes in the health situation in Poland are generally positive. Infant mortality and the incidence of tuberculosis are declining and the average life expectancy (for both sexes) is extending. Worrisome is the increase in the number of seropositive persons, but this is not accompanied by an increase in the incidence of AIDS. Also an increase in mortality is on the rise, but this process can be associated with the society’s ageing. The spatial differentiation of the health situation in Poland is significant, the most pronounced in the case of infant mortality (taking NUTS-4 as the base unit). Comparing to European post-Communist countries, the health situation of the Polish society can be considered relatively good (the worst in the case of tuberculosis).