CHANGING TRENDS IN TUBERCULOSIS MORBIDITY IN BELARUS, LITHUANIA AND POLAND IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE XX CENTURY - THE EARLY YEARS OF THE XXI CENTURY
This article presents the data of comparing the tuberculosis incidence and mortality trends in Belarus, Lithuania and Poland for the period 1965-2013. The tuberculosis statistics have been compared for three neighboring countries in two different historical periods: in the Soviet era and in the period of the social and economic transformations after the USSR dissolution. The dominating changes in the tuberculosis rates distribution in the countries over the two periods have been identified. Some historical and sociocultural factors responsible for the changes in tuberculosis cross-regional spatial pattern are discussed.