Health for all through research

John F. Kennedy's vision of man on the moon by the year 1970 set a goal for technological research and development. The World Health Organization's vision of health for all by the year 2000 set a similar goal not only for health policy but also for health research. Drawing on the analogy between these goals, this paper first explores what health for all means as a policy goal. It calls for changes in most aspects of the health care system. In the European Region of the World Health Organization, 38 specific targets show how approaches to health problems, lifestyles, environment, health care and various support measures (e.g., planning, management and training) should be changed to reach the over-all goal. These changes should be based on sound scientific knowledge. Health for all therefore also calls for a health research policy and reorientation of research. The second part of the paper looks at the research implications of health for all. Assisted by the Regional Office of the World Health Organization, the European Advisory Committee for Health Research analysed the 38 targets to see what kind of research would help to achieve them. The result of this analysis were two publications: "Research Policies for Health for All" and "Priority Research for Health for All". The first volume explains why a country needs a health research policy. The second one identifies, target by target, research necessary to reach them. Translated into several languages, they have begun to influence national research policies. The third section of the paper describes the research priorities identified in the two research for health for all volumes. It also aims at showing their relevance for the European health research community. It finally discusses the prerequisites that the countries have to set up to make research for health for all possible. They include changes in the incentives for and financing of research, personnel development, research organization and communication between the researchers and decision-makers.