As European populations are rapidly ageing, disease patterns are changing, creating different demands on the health and social sectors. Important demographic and epidemiological changes are occurring at different paces and varying intensity across the Region. Renewed efforts to implement cost-effective, evidence-based interventions and to orient policies to enhance health and well-being are provided under the framework of the Health 2020 strategy. This builds on and extends the focus of the European health report 2009 (2) on approaches to strengthen health systems’ functions based on cost-effective interventions and performance assessment.

The goal of the European health policy, Health 2020, is “to improve the health and well-being of populations, reduce health inequities, and ensure sustainable people-centred health systems”. Through an intense process of consultation and the work of several expert groups, Health 2020 has arrived at six goals (overarching targets) for the European Region to achieve by 2020; for each area, indicators will be used to monitor progress. The use of targets builds on previous European efforts, such as those of Health for All and HEALTH 2020. Valuable lessons have been learned from the nearly 30 years of experience in making health policy and setting targets. The process of setting targets and indicators is complex; this report clearly documents the procedures used to date in Health 2020 and outlines the next steps.