Background. Development of health status aimed on cardiovascular mortality of male and female population in Czech and Slovak republics after the partition of the common state between years 1993 and 1999 is compared. Methods and Results. Within the followed seven years the mean life expectancy at birth in Czech Republic (CR) linearly increased by 2.6 years in males (p=0.00001) and 1.9 years in females (p=0.0001). In Slovak Republic (SR) life expectancy increased in males only by 0.5 years and by 0.3 years in females (not significant). The main cause of such state is related to differences in cardiovascular mortality: standardised early cardiovascular mortality in age interval 0 do 64 years significantly lowered in males and females in both republics, the decrease being significantly higher in CR (p<0.001). At present, the early cardiovascular mortality of males and females is over 30 % higher than in CR. Similar development had also the early mortality rate among males and females on the ischaemic hearth disease (p<0.05) and on cerebrovascular disease. Differences between SR and CR in mortality rate of the ischaemic heart disease (not the prevalence of the cerebrovascular disease) carry on also in 1999. Significant different was the development of cardiovascular mortality in the population over 64 years: In CR the decrease was continuous and highly significant (p=0.000), meanwhile in SR the trend has the opposite direction. At present in SR is the cardiovascular mortality of males and females over 64 years higher than than in 1993. To the difference in the mean life expectancy of males in SR contribute also the higher infant mortality, the early cancer mortality, mortality to external causes, and the diseases of the respiratory and alimentary system. Conclusions. Causes of the different development in SR and CR are not well recognised. They may include the lower level of education, worse composition of the diet, higher consummation of distillates and tobacco, and somehow lower level of health care in SR. Also the higher proportion of the Romany population in SR may be significant.

        Key words: mean life expectancy, cardiovascular mortality rate, ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, nutrition, Romany population.