"Achieving equity in health requires a commitment to monitoring health inequalities which, in turn, necessitates strong, equity-oriented health information systems. High-quality data and robust monitoring systems ensure that efforts can be targeted appropriately and that progress can be tracked. Countries must strengthen health information systems to generate better data and evidence to measure progress. Integral to the health inequality monitoring process is the task of reporting data in a meaningful way. This State of inequality report exemplifies effective reporting practices, featuring the topic of reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health. The report addresses the challenge of how to best communicate a large and complex body of data in a manner that is comprehensible, flexible and appealing to a wide readership. Feature stories provide an in-depth look at the state of inequality for selected indicators and highlight key observations in reproductive health interventions, maternal health interventions, care-seeking for sick children, childhood immunization, child malnutrition and child mortality. Perhaps most notable, however, is the innovative use of electronic visualization technology. Story-point dashboards, for instance, guide the reader through a succession of visuals where readers can use interactive tools to further explore, sort and filter the data. Similarly, interactive maps and tables engage readers in customizing how data are viewed. The report reveals that significant inequalities exist in low- and middle-income countries in the area of reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health. The good health of women, infants and children is essential for sustainable development, and there is still much work to be done. Discussions will increasingly call into question how efforts to improve reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health can achieve early and accelerated progress among those who are falling behind"--Pages viii-ix.

Accompanying CD-ROM has same title as book.

"The Handbook on health inequality monitoring: with a special focus on low- and middle-income countries is a resource that enables countries to do just that. It presents a comprehensive yet clear overview of health inequality monitoring in a user-friendly manner. The handbook succeeds in giving those involved in health inequality monitoring an appreciation of the complexities of the process, as well as building the practical knowledge and skills for systematic monitoring of health inequalities in low- and middle-income countries. The use of the handbook will enable countries to better monitor and evaluate their progress and performance with a high degree of accountability and transparency, and allow them to use the results to formulate evidenced-based policies, programmes and practices to tackle inequalities in an effective manner."--Publisher's description.

The problems related to the process of industrialisation such as biodiversity depletion, climate change and a worsening of health and living conditions, especially but not only in developing countries, intensify. Therefore, there is an increasing need to search for integrated solutions to make development more sustainable. The United Nations has acknowledged the problem and approved the “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. On 1st January 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the Agenda officially came into force. These goals cover the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic growth, social inclusion and environmental protection. The Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals comprehensively addresses the SDGs in an integrated way. The Encyclopedia encompasses 17 volumes, each one devoted to one of the 17 SDGs. This volume addresses SDG 3, namely "Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages" and contains the description of a range of terms, to grow a better understanding and foster knowledge. Ensuring healthy lives and promoting the well-being for all at all ages is essential to sustainable development. Significant strides have been made in increasing life expectancy and reducing some of the common killers associated with child and maternal mortality. Major progress has been made on increasing access to clean water and sanitation, reducing malaria, tuberculosis, polio and the spread of HIV/AIDS. However, many more efforts are needed to fully eradicate a wide range of diseases and address many different persistent and emerging health issues. Concretely, the defined targets are: Reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births End preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births End the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases Reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and wellbeing Strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol Halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all Substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination Strengthen the implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in all countries, as appropriate Support the research and development of vaccines and medicines for the communicable and non-communicable diseases that primarily affect developing countries, provide access to affordable essential medicines and vaccines, in accordance with the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, which affirms the right of developing countries to use to the full the provisions in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights regarding flexibilities to protect public health, and, in particular, provide access to medicines for all Substantially increase health financing and the recruitment, development, training and retention of the health workforce in developing countries, especially in least developed countries and small island developing states Strengthen the capacity of all countries, in particular developing countries, for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks Editorial Board Mohamed Walid AbdullahMeherun AhmedMonica de AndradeMasoud MozafariGiorgi PkhakadzeTony WallCatherine Zeman/div/div