In their article, Mackenbach et al try to translate health into monetary figures in order to back up with economic arguments their advocacy of intersectoral actions to tackle health inequalities. The reduction of health inequalities by way of improving the health of the less educateddtheir levelling up approachdwould lead to economic gains through its impact on labour participation, labour inco...

T he challenges facing patient organisations in Europe are unique only in part, but that part is both critical and daunting. The core problem involves what ‘‘Europe’’ is and is not. It is a collection of nation states. It is not a nation. Consequently, people are ‘‘Europeans’’ after they are Danish, German, French, or whatever their nationality, and their healthcare and policy is National (with...

165 ABRIEF PERUSAL OF MY PUBLICATION RECORD will reveal something about my recent activities that may—indeed, probably should—strike you as sad: I hardly contribute anything to the biogerontology literature any more, essentially restricting myself instead to my characteristic outbursts in this space and the occasional invited book chapter. Ultimately, however, this is not a reason for sympathy,...

In this issue of the journal, Crawford et al make a useful contribution to the ongoing debate regarding whether alcohol screening and brief intervention for excessive drinkers should be delivered within sexual health clinics. Alcohol misuse in the UK is responsible for considerable morbidity and mortality, as well as financial cost to the National Health Service, estimated at £2.9 billion in 20...

In 1978 two United Nations organizations, the World Health Organization and UNICEF, held a joint conference at Alma Ata in the Soviet Union at which health was described as a human right to which all people were entitled. The goal of achieving health for all by the end of the century was established. The Alma Ata Declaration on Primary Health Care emerged from this conference. It was endorsed o...