The European Health Report 2002

The European health report responds to the statutory requirements to provide the member states with essential public health information. The report analyses a decade of evidence on health in the Region, which embraces 51 WHO Member States with some 870 million people. While overall levels of health in the Region are among the highest in the world, the report describes widening gaps between and within countries. It confirms the strong links between socioeconomic development, health and...
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The European health report responds to the statutory requirements to provide the member states with essential public health information. The report analyses a decade of evidence on health in the Region, which embraces 51 WHO Member States with some 870 million people. While overall levels of health in the Region are among the highest in the world, the report describes widening gaps between and within countries. It confirms the strong links between socioeconomic development, health and equity in the WHO European Region. The report builds on the view that health policies cannot be isolated from other policy sectors: One central task in improving health is to reduce socioeconomic inequalities, thus placing health in the context of human development. The link between health and employment, income maintenance, social welfare, housing and education is crucial in all European Member States. The report focuses on concrete evidence useful for decision-makers in public health. Its role is to summarize and feed back to Member States the information created, deposited and accredited during the Regional Office's work with Member States on key topics and issues in public health in Europe, in the context of the values and principles of WHO as one Organization.