Adapting Health Systems to Tackle Public Health Challenges

First paragraph: It is now widely acknowledged that health inequalities are a feature of most advanced industrial societies. This health divide has been extensively documented across Europe. Almost all measures of health status and most if not all indicators of social position demonstrate that the most disadvantaged people are more likely to suffer poor health and premature mortality than their more affluent neighbours. But existing knowledge focuses to a very considerable extent simply on describing and enumerating the problem. Recent research has started to identify the complex causes of health inequalities but good evidence to guide policy and practice is still in very short supply. This imbalance is being addressed in a number of European countries but new approaches are still in their infancy.