WHO in a new Europe

Abstract

The biennial report of the WHO Regional Office for Europe for 1991-1992, a period characterized by the emergence of urgent health needs in the countries of central and eastern Europe, including the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union. Many projects highlighted in the report show how WHO has responded to these urgent needs. Specific projects include humanitarian aid to the war-torn former Yugoslavia, supply of vaccines and other essential medicines to the newly independent states, an initiative to prevent the spread of AIDS to central and eastern Europe, and continuing follow-up of the effects of the Chernobyl accident, including the raising of funds to care for the children of Belarus dying of thyroid cancer. European-wide projects during the biennium include campaigns against alcohol abuse and tobacco use, further expansion of the Healthy Cities project, continuous monitoring of environmental conditions and their effects on health, and the reform of health care systems. The report concludes with an outline of challenges facing the future of health in Europe. These include the changing political map of Europe, increasing migration, slow economic development, high unemployment, and an ageing population.