Sarah Payne, School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol , United Kingdom
Joint Policy Brief #12, 2009
World Health Organization, on behalf of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies

Available online as PDF file [45p.] at: http://www.euro.who.int/document/E92846.pdf

Key messages (English, French, German and Russian): http://www.euro.who.int/HEN/policybriefs/20090924_1

Gender differences in health and in how well health systems and health care services meet the needs of women and men are well known: in Europe, there are variations in terms of life expectancy, the risk of mortality and morbidity, health behaviours and in the use of health care services. There is also increasing research evidence demonstrating the importance of a number of different social determinants of health, and these interact with gender inequalities in ways that can magnify the impact on health.