Public HealthTackling socioeconomic inequalities in health: analysis of European experiences
Section snippets
National policy developments
European countries are in widely different phases of awareness of, and willingness to take action on, socioeconomic inequalities in health. The figure shows policy developments in nine countries for which we have gathered information. The first event included in the figure is publication of the Black report in 19803. More than a decade passed before further action was taken in the UK, in the form of national research programmes and important government and non-government reports,4, 5
Innovative approaches
We identified several specific innovative approaches to reduce health inequalities and classified them in five main areas (panel 1). For every innovation (except for some of the more complex approaches) empirical evidence suggests they can help to reduce health inequalities.
Reduction of socioeconomic inequalities in health requires sustained action in many policy areas. Although outcome-oriented targets such as WHO's 25% reduction of health inequalities13, 14 may inspire and motivate, they are
Conclusions
Whether it will actually be possible to substantially reduce socioeconomic inequalities in health remains an open question. European trends in inequalities in mortality during the last decades of the 20th century have generally shown a widening of the gap in relative terms, and at best a stable situation in absolute terms.29 The good news is that during the 1990s, a great amount of progress was made in development of policies and interventions, putting us in a better position to reduce
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