'Closing the Gap' - The EU Health Inequalities Portal

It brings together national public health and health promotion organisations from 22 European countries.

'Closing the Gap' is a three year project (June 2004 - 2007) which is being funded by the European Commission.  It brings together national public health and health promotion organisations from 22 European countries.   The aim of this project is to develop a European knowledge base and infrastructure in order to implement and strengthen strategies and actions to reduce health inequalities at different levels.

Background

Reducing health inequalities ranks highly on the health policy agendas of European countries. Numerous scientific studies show that low socio-economic status is associated with poor health over the life course: Socially disadvantaged groups face a higher risk of premature mortality, disease and accidents in childhood, while early detection and vaccinations are carried out less often amongst these groups. In addition, adverse health-related behaviours such as cigarette smoking, bad dietary habits or lack of physical activity are more  prevalent amongst socially disadvangaged groups, and their risk of developing chronic conditions such as  cardiovascular disease and depressive disorders is two- to three times greater than that of those with a higher socio-economic status.

This project has just published a report outlining what the project partners are doing to address health inequalities in their countries as well as the conclusions and recommendations of this three year initiative.