A report on the third evaluation of the implementation of the health for all strategy in the WHO European Region. The report continues a tradition of regular analysis and reporting on a wide range of public health issues, addressed within the familiar structure of the WHO European strategy for health for all and its 38 targets. Throughout the report, numerous tables and figures are used to compare the health status of countries, set out mortality rates, and chart trends over time. Although the entire range of health issues is covered, several key findings emerge. First, many socioeconomic indicators show significant changes, particularly in eastern Europe, where the incidence of income poverty has dramatically increased, exacerbated by social upheaval and armed conflict in several areas. Although steadily increasing unemployment remains a problem in western Europe, the analysis points to the further strengthening of the European Union as a positive development. The evaluation also found unacceptably wide differences in the main health indicators between countries, with increasing differences found in some. Most alarming, the evaluation established that alcohol consumption patterns played a major role in the very sharp and large increase in mortality detected in most of the newly independent states of the former USSR.