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- Title
The Finnish dance of death: impressions from Helsinki.
- Authors
Mackenbach, Johan P.
- Abstract
The article describes inequalities in mortality rates between higher and lower socioeconomic classes in Finland, despite that country’s successful public health policies and general egalitarian social and economic policies. The author compares this inequality between rich and poor to the Dance of Death, a popular late-medieval art form in which the living, in social order from high to low, are led away by a skeleton personifying Death, stating that higher placed persons had lower mortality rates then as they do now. The article then states that social variations in alcohol consumption appear to be part of the explanation in Finland, as causes of death linked directly or indirectly to alcohol are seen at higher rates in lower socioeconomic classes. The article asserts that Finland, in contrast with former Soviet nations with high alcohol-related mortality, has experienced decades of peace and prosperity, and that further research by Finland’s public health community is needed to find a solution.
- Subjects
HELSINKI (Finland); FINLAND; DANCE of death; MEDICINE &; art; EQUALITY; ALCOHOLISM; SUBSTANCE abuse; PUBLIC health
- Publication
European Journal of Public Health, 2008, Vol 18, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
1101-1262
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/eurpub/ckm114