European economic crisis and health inequities: research challenges in an uncertain scenario

The economic and social crisis that the European population has experienced since 2008 has fuelled interest in the study of its potential health impacts, especially when it comes to the more vulnerable southern countries like Greece, Portugal, Italy and Spain [1,2]. With regard to public health, and particularly social epidemiology, the need to deal with the problem of the economic crisis encourages natural experiments from which it is possible to visualize the relationships between social determinants and health, and to assess the usefulness of the health policies and interventions required to buffer the negative impact of the crisis. Since the 1929 stock market crash in the United States, there have been different episodes of economic crises that have affected almost every continent, with diverse health consequences [3]. Unlike previous economic crisis, this one is directly affecting European countries that are included in the group of so-called developed countries and that are located in the centre of the global economic system. Measures implemented by the respective European governments to overcome the crisis have been similar to those used in previous crisis that affected countries of the global South. The delivery of financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank (ECB), primarily aimed at preventing the collapse of the European banking system, has been dependent on the compliance with structural adjustment reforms by the governments of all the ‘rescued countries’. These measures have mainly focused on the implementation of public spending cuts, as well as privatization of public services and a deregulation of markets. Despite the resistance of social movements and the recognition by the IMF itself of their own