Published 26 October 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b4412
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b4412

News

European Commission seeks to tackle health inequalities

Rory Watson

1 Brussels

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The European Commission wants to see health given a higher priority among the European Union’s various policies and funding programmes, to raise standards throughout the continent.

In particular, it sees greater scope in the use of the billions of pounds the European Union spends every year on regional and social projects to tackle the health inequalities which exist within and between countries.

Androulla Vassiliou, the EU health commissioner, said, "I want to see a Europe where everyone has the opportunity to enjoy a high level of health regardless of where they live or their social or ethnic background. We have recognised that health inequalities need to be tackled."

Despite a general improvement in public health levels in Europe, differences exist in key indicators such as mortality rates, incidence of disease, and available treatment. Life expectancy at birth varies throughout Europe by up to eight years for women and 14 years . . . [Full text of this article]


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