Atlas of mortality in Europe. Subnational patterns, 1980/1981 and 1990/1991

Since its creation, WHO has had the primary goal of securing the best possible level of health for all people. It forms alliances wherever possible to help in the work, and monitors progress towards its goal by gathering and issuing statistics on disease and death. This atlas thus derives from long-standing WHO goals, tasks and methods. In creating this book, however, the four main partners - the WHO European Centre for Environment and Health, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, and the Central Bureau of Statistics and the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in the Netherlands - have taken important steps forward.

The atlas does more than give national averages for all the main causes of death in the WHO European Region; it gives data on regions within countries and shows changes in mortality at this level between 1980/1981 and 1990/1991. Further, it literally draws pictures of health in Europe, presenting the data collected in vivid and informative maps and bar charts. By showing differences in mortality from various causes in the European Region, the atlas also indicates areas in which more study is needed to determine both the reasons for these differences and the most appropriate action to reduce them.

As well as resting on important principles of WHO's work for health for all, this atlas can contribute to progress towards the goal. It offers substantial food for thought and action by policy-makers, professionals and anyone else interested in health and equity.