Health as a fundamental basis of population life quality

The population health is a complex indicator of social well-being and the basis for the quality of life. The level of population health in some countries of Western and Eastern Europe and its impact on the quality of life is the subject of our comparative study. Interrelations between health and socio-economic characteristics and quality of life indicators (education, employment, poverty, current health expenditure, life expectancy at birth, etc.) are identified on the basis of correlation analysis. The dynamics of health over the past decade taking into account specifics of different European countries are studied. Based on undertaken correlation analysis, a comparative model of population life quality for 10 European countries is offered, namely; Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, France, Switzerland (the Western European countries); and Bulgaria, Poland, Russia, Romania, Slovakia (the Eastern European countries). The authors conclude that the Western European model is characterized by steady growth of the Human Development Index (HDI), life expectancy, the level of education and employment of population in economic activity, small growth of current expenditures on health care, contradictory dynamics of health self-assessment. The Eastern European model is characterized by steady increase of HDI, life expectancy and self-esteem of population, with a steady reduction in education inequality.