A country divided? Regional variation in mortality in Ukraine.

OBJECTIVES: We set out to identify the contribution of various causes of death to regional differences in life expectancy in Ukraine. METHODS: Mortality data by oblast (province) were obtained from the State Statistical Committee of Ukraine. The contribution of various causes of death to differences in life expectancy between East, West and South Ukraine was estimated using decomposition. RESULTS: In 2008, life expectancy for men in South (61.8 years) and East Ukraine (61.2 years) was lower than for men in West Ukraine (64.0 years). A similar pattern was observed among women. This was mostly due to deaths from infectious disease and external causes among young adults, and cardio- and cerebro-vascular deaths among older adults. Deaths from TB among young adults contribute most to differences in life expectancy. CONCLUSIONS: Deaths due to infectious disease, especially TB, play an important role in the gap in life expectancy between regions in Ukraine. These deaths are entirely preventable--further research is needed to identify what has 'protected' individuals in Western Ukraine from the burden of deaths experienced by their Southern and Eastern counterparts.