Health promotion challenges for countries of the former Soviet Union: results from collaboration between Estonia, Russian Karelia and Finland

Abstract

Countries of the former Soviet Union are facing a considerable problem of chronic diseases, which is a major challenge for disease prevention and health promotion. During the last few years several collaborative activities have been launched to gain a better understanding of the problem and to help launch effective intervention programmes. This paper describes results and experiences from such collaboration between Finland and its neighbouring countries: Estonia and the Republic of Karelia (part of the Russian Federation). The paper presents results from epidemiological comparisons and health behaviour assessments, based on strictly comparable surveys. Recent intervention activities are presented. Finally, challenges and potentials for health promotion in the former Soviet Union are discussed.