Health is a valuable asset for everyone. But health surveys reveal a harsh reality: people living in deprived circumstances or people lower down the social scale have a shorter life expectancy. Also in prosperous regions like Flanders, people's social position systematically affects their health.

Although policy makers at different levels are aware of the need to eliminate inequalities, they fail to sufficiently close the health gap. This is largely due to the complexity of the problem: the social determinants of health require a cross-sectoral approach, not only at (inter)national level, but also at regional and local level.

As regional policy offers an excellent framework for developing an integrated approach to address the social determinants of health, the Flemish authorities will organise on 8 and 9 November 2010 a two-day international conference, entitled "Reducing health inequalities from a regional perspective - what works, what does not?". The conference intends to examine the efficiency of policy measures and initiatives aiming at the elimination or reduction of health inequalities. That is why we will analyse practical experiences and field actions. We will evaluate how research outcomes can best be translated in policy development, especially at regional level.

This conference will be supported by the Regions for Health Network of the World Health Organization (European region) and fits in with the Belgian Presidency of the European Union.