Continuity and Discontinuity of Health and Health Care in the Czech Lands during two Centuries (1800-2000)

Abstract

From the point of view of demographic, economic, social and health changes it is possible to identify trends in the Czech Lands that correspond to changes in the advanced countries of Western Europe both in the 19th and 20th century. The discontinuity of political development in the Czech Lands in the 20th century, however, led to the disruption of some of these trends. Social changes were closely connected with the political changes that followed each other in the 20th century in extremely rapid succession, and were very often contradictory. From the short-term point of view, the assessment of the changes since 1989 has been easier. General inclination toward “proven” values both at home and abroad led within an extremely short time to the adjustment of demographic behaviour and to changes in the structure of illness (in both the positive and negative sense) comparable with Western Europé.