There are large variations between chronic diseases in the size and pattern of socioeconomic differences in their prevalence. The large inequalities that are found for some specific fatal diseases (e.g. stroke) and non-fatal diseases (e.g. arthritis) require special attention in equity-oriented research and policies.

The results underscore the persistent nature of socioeconomic inequalities in health in modern societies. The relatively favourable trends in the Nordic countries suggest that these countries' welfare states were able to buffer many of the adverse effects of economic crises on the health of disadvantaged groups.

Study objective: To describe mortality inequalities related to education and housing tenure in 11 European populations and to describe the age pattern of relative and absolute socioeconomic inequalities in mortality in the elderly European population. Design and Methods: Data from mortality registries linked with population census data of 11 countries and regions of Europe were acquired for the beginning of the 1990s. Indicators of socioeconomic status were educational level and housing tenure. The study determined mortality rate ratios, relative indices of inequality (RII), and mortality rate differences. The age range was 30 to 90+ years. Analyses were performed on the pooled European data, including all populations, and on the data of populations separately. Data were included from Finland, Norway, Denmark, England and Wales, Belgium, France, Austria, Switzerland, Barcelona, Madrid, and Turin. Main results: In Europe (populations pooled) relative inequalities in mortality decreased with increasing age, but persisted. Absolute educational mortality differences increased until the ages 90+. In some of the populations, relative inequalities among older women were as large as those among middle aged women. The decline of relative educational inequalities was largest in Norway (men and women) and Austria (men). Relative educational inequalities did not decrease, or hardly decreased with age in England and Wales (men), Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, and Turin (women). Conclusions: Socioeconomic inequalities in mortality among older men and women were found to persist in each country, sometimes of similar magnitude as those among the middle aged. Mortality inequalities among older populations are an important public health problem in Europe.

Inequalities in the use of cancer screening according to SEP are higher in countries without population-based cancer screening programmes. These results highlight the potential benefits of population-based screening programmes.

Most of the evidence regarding the association between particulate air pollution and emergency room visits or hospital admissions for respiratory conditions and asthma comes from the USA. European time-series analyses have suggested that gaseous air pollutants are important determinants of acute hospitalization for respiratory conditions, at least as important as particulate mass. The association between daily mean levels of suspended particles and gaseous pollutants (sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone) was examined. The daily emergency hospital admissions for respiratory conditions in the metropolitan area of Rome during 1995 -1997 were also recorded.Daily counts of hospital admissions for total respiratory conditions (43 admissions?day -1 ), acute respiratory infections including pneumonia (18?day -1 ), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (13?day ) among residents of all ages and among children (0 -14 yrs) were analysed. The generalized additive models included spline smooth functions of the day of study, mean temperature, mean humidity, influenza epidemics, and indicator variables for day of the week and holidays.Total respiratory admissions were significantly associated with same-day level of NO 2 (2.5% increase per interquartile range (IQR) change, 22.3 mg?m -3 ) and CO (2.8% increase per IQR, 1.5 mg?m -3 ). No effect was found for particulate matter and SO 2 , whereas O 3 was associated with admissions only among children (lag 1, 5.5% increase per IQR, 23.9 mg?m 3 ). The effect of NO 2 was stronger on acute respiratory infections (lag 0, 4.0% increase) and on asthma among children (lag 1, 10.7% increase). The admissions for all ages for asthma and COPD were associated only with same-day level of CO (5.5% and 4.3% increase, respectively). Multipollutant models confirmed the role of CO on all respiratory admissions, including asthma and COPD, and that of NO 2 on acute respiratory infections. Among children, O 3 remained a strong indicator of acute respiratory infections.Carbon monoxide and photochemical pollutants (nitrogen dioxide, ozone) appear to be determinants of acute respiratory conditions in Rome. Since carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide are good indicators of combustion products from traffic related sources, the detected effect may be due to unmeasured fine and ultrafine particles.

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Socioeconomic disparities in IHD mortality were larger in northern than in southern European populations during the 1990s. This partly reflects the pattern of socioeconomic disparities in cardiovascular risk factors in Europe. Population wide strategies to reduce risk factor prevalence combined with interventions targeted at the lower socioeconomic groups can contribute to reduce IHD mortality in Europe.