Social and Spatial Inequalities in Premature Mortality Across Europe.

Although some differences in health status between populations are inevitable, such as poorer health among older populations, differences in health linked with social and economic circumstances are not. These avoidable and unfair inequalities in health have been long recognised,1,2 but addressing them remains a major challenge throughout the world. According to the adage “if something cannot be measured, it cannot be improved”.3 If true, the article by José Chen-Xu and colleagues in The Lancet Public Health,4 measuring subnational geographical differences in premature mortality in Europe, provides a potentially valuable contribution to addressing health inequalities across the continent.