The existence of differences between the population health in Índustrially developed countries and that in less developed countries is generál knowledge. However, there also exist differences in the population health of countries of the samé level of development. And finally, there is differentiated the health of the population within one country. Námely the latter čase is the subject of the present communication. The author jus-tifies the motives for such research and points out the difficulties it faces. Explained are basic socio-econo-mic terms and presented are the causal relations that exist between sociál factors and population health. In this connection attention is called to problems that may lead to biased results in the modeling of such rela¬tions. In conclusion the author summarizes contemporaty views on these problems and presents the major factors in the interplay of socio-economic standing and health.

        Key words: horizontál and vertical equity; sociál standing; level of health; risk factors