Millennium Development Goals for Health in Europe and Central Asia is part of the World Bank Working Paper series. These papers are published to communicate the results of the Bank's ongoing research and to stimulate public discussion. This study contributes to the debate about the appropriateness of health-related Millennium Development Goals for the countries of the Europe and Central Asia region. The study does this by analyzing the impact of the following four scenarios on life expectancy at birth: achieving Millennium Development Goal targets for infant, child and maternal mortality; reducing infant, child and maternal mortality to European Union levels; reducing infant, child and maternal mortality to the lowest sub-regional levels; reducing deaths from cardiovascular disease and external causes of death to European Union levels.
Primarily addressed at policy advisors and senior analysts at the local, regional and global level, who could influence the strategic directions of policy makers, the study will be of particular relevance to international development institutions and UN organizations, who might have to reconsider the focus of their health-related development assistance to the countries of the Europe and Central Asia region.