Although the health and social effects of the 2008 financial crisis will not be felt at their fullest until 2010, governments must invest now in programmes to support the poorest and most vulnerable groups in their populations and help unemployed people find jobs, participants agreed at the European Health Forum in Gastein, Austria, last week.

No country has been immune from the economic crisis, and within Europe the Baltic states, Greece, Portugal, and Spain have been particularly hard hit, said Armin Fidler, lead health policy adviser at the World Bank. “Social budgets must be defended and health and social safety nets provided to protect the poor, single parent households, refugees, migrant workers, and marginalised ethnic groups,” he said.

It was also essential to pursue “active labour market …