Internal market rules may prove to be health hazard

By Karen Carstens

Date: 13/05/04

EU INTERNAL market rules could undermine progress made in promoting healthier lifestyles in the new member states where mortality rates are still considerably higher than in western Europe, health experts have warned.

A study of health trends in the ten new member states due to be launched today (13 May) cautions that an influx of tobacco and alcohol products and advertising could threaten health advances made in these countries.

"There will be considerable convergence in terms of economic trends between the old and the new member states, but the convergence in health will take a lot longer," said Martin McKee, professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

"Life expectancy will not converge with the current member states until 2030," he added.

The study, conducted by McKee and professors from the London School of Economics, underscores that mortality rates in the three Baltic states - Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia - are particularly high.

The biggest killers are cardiovascular disease and cancers stemming from poor nutrition, excessive drinking and smoking.

Still, some new countries have "gone beyond what the Western countries have done, like Poland on tobacco control", said McKee.

Poland passed its Tobacco Control and Health Protection Act in 1995 and adopted a ban on tobacco advertising in 1999.

All billboard advertising of tobacco products was eliminated, followed by a ban on such advertising in the press.

However, this is probably not exactly music to the ears of regulators and the media in some 'old' EU member states, notably Germany, which has blocked attempts at an EU-wide advertising ban.

McKee warned there is a danger that current EU laws on the internal market could threaten progress achieved by new members.

A study by staff at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the London School of Economics warns that European Union internal market rules could undermine progress made in promoting healthier lifestyles in the ten new Member States where mortality rates are still considerably higher than in western Europe.