UNDP's 2011 Human Development Report finds that income distribution has worsened in most regions of the world. Assessing national average achievements in health, education and income, the report places Norway, Australia and the Netherlands at the top of the 2011 ranking. Congo, Niger and Burundi represent the bottom three. The rest of the top ten list comprises the United States, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Germany and Sweden. Strikingly, adjusting the index according to internal inequalities causes some of the top ranked nations to drop considerably in the ranking, with the United States falling from #4 to #23.

As its title "Sustainability and Equity: A Better Future for All" indicates, the report also highlights possible detrimental effects of environmental degradation on equitable development. In this context, different "environmental challenges" scenarios project an 8% to 15% decrease of the global development index by 2050 compared to baseline assumptions that do not take into account possible adverse effects of global warming.

The complete report is available here; a summary and individual chapters can be found here.

Agreed upon at the World Conference on Social Determinants of Health held in Rio de Janeiro from 19-21 October, 2011, the declaration is expected to generate political momentum for tangible action on the recommendations elaborated by 2008 WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health.

With delegations from 125 WHO member states attending, the Rio conference constituted one of the largest meetings in WHO history since the International Conference on Primary Health Care in 1978 and is hoped to serve as starting point for the development of national action plans and strategies.

The consortium chaired by Professor Sir Michael Marmot of the University College London has launched a consultation in the framework of its review of the Social Determinants of Health and the Health Divide commissioned by WHO/Europe. Together with other recently commissioned studies, including a study on governance for health in the 21st century led by Professor Ilona Kickbusch of Global Health Europe, the review is to inform the development a new health policy framework for the European region known as Health 2020.

The Marmot Review Team welcomes responses from individuals and organisations from across the 53 countries of the European Regions, from within all sectors and levels of government. Reponses are requested to be returned to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it by November 25^th, 2011.

The consultation document is available here.

The list of questions for consultation is available here.

For more information, visit the website of the Marmot Review Team.

On the 5th October, Global Health Europe held a pre-conference workshop on global health governance at the 14th European Health Forum in Gastein (EHFG), Austria with a special focus on the reform of the World Health Organisation (WHO). The debate centred on processes for engagement within the WHO reform processes, in particular the role of civil society, organisations such as the European Union, and private industry within reform. A range of reform and general global health governance challenges were discussed, including the tensions between NGO and private interests within governance, and timely reform versus the need for adequate mechanisms to ensure democratic processes and representation. (Above: S.Battams, M. Kokény, I.Kickbusch, A.Rys, L.Andersen, T.Gebauer). Read more.