Total, CVD and cancer mortality in Central Europe was relatively low at the beginning of the 1960s, but then an increase occurred. While the differences in 1970 between the nations of the European Union (EU) and the Central European communist countries were not great, from the mid-1970s on, the relative trends in CVD mortality in EU countries and Central Europe showed a marked change: mortality in Central Europe increased, whereas in EU countries it decreased steadily. Between 1985 and 1990, the male CVD mortality in Central Europe was more than two times higher than in EU countries. A substantial proportion of this divergence was attributable to ischemic heart disease. After the collapse of Communism, however, a decrease in CVD mortality in Central Europe was observed.

