Skip Navigation

The European Journal of Public Health 2000 10(Supplement 4):2-6; doi:10.1093/eurpub/10.suppl_4.2
© 2000 by European Journal of Public Health
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Gunning-Schepers, L. J.
Right arrow Articles by Herten, L. M. V.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Gunning-Schepers, L. J.
Right arrow Articles by Herten, L. M. V.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Targets in health policy

Louise J. Gunning-Schepers1 and Loes M. Van Herten2

1 Academic Medical Centre University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2 TNO-Prevention Leiden, The Netherlands

Correspondence: Prof. Dr. LJ. Gunning-Schepers, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, P.O. Box 22660, 1100 DD Amsterdam, tel. +31 20 5662109, fax +31 20 6912796, e-mail: l.j.gunning{at}amc.uva.nl

In the 1980s epidemiology was rediscovered by health policy makers and health target setting was introduced. Although it brought back the populations' health as the central goal in health policy, some problems were also identified with the use of targets. First, of course, the political risk of being so explicit in a field where one does not control all the relevant determinants. Secondly, problems were encountered in terms of epidemiological methodology and data availability. However, the fact that in some countries targets could be sustained over several cabinets shows that they may also help to keep health policy on a steady course. In addition, public health epidemiology and public health models have since provided many of the tools necessary to set realistic targets and to translate the results of epidemiological research adequately into estimates of the potential health benefits of alternative interventions. Not long ago the World Health Organisation (WHO) presented its new generation of targets, in its policy ‘Health for All in the 21st Century’. With these targets the WHO has once again chosen to put social justice and the public's health high on the health policy agenda. It is to be hoped that the progress which has been made with the methodology of public health epidemiology and the necessary data for the member states in the next Global Burden of Disease project will allow for the use of these targets in the core of policy making, the priority setting of resource allocation.

Keywords: health policy, health targets, public health epidemiology


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.