http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/324/7328/1
>Overall these papers reinforce the idea that the evidence for a
>correlation between income inequality and the health of the population is
>slowly dissipating. There is very little confirmation of such a relation
>outside the United States. Within the United States it has still to be
>convincingly demonstrated that it is not due to curvilinear individual
>level relationships and confounding. This should give no reason for
>concernafter all, conjecture and refutation are science's core business.
>In the process, new research avenues have opened and a better
>understanding of the potential importance of contextual factors for
>population health has emerged. Most importantly, perhaps, the powerful
>impact of individual income on mortality has been rediscovered and still
>demands the urgent attention of policymakers and politicians around the world.
>
>Johan P Mackenbach, professor of public health.
>
>Department of Public Health, Erasmus University Rotterdam, PO Box 1738,
>3000 DR Rotterdam, Netherlands ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
