In general, children and adolescents in the WHO European Region have better nutrition, health and development today than ever before. However, there are striking inequalities in health status across the 52 countries in the Region with over ten-fold differences in infant and child mortality rates. Inequalities are also growing within countries, and several health threats are emerging. To prevent this, the WHO Regional Office for Europe has developed a European strategy for child and adolescent health and development. The strategy, and its tool kit for implementation, aims to assist Member States in formulating their own policies and programmes.