Health for all by the year 2000 is the blueprint for change agreed to by the Member States of the World Health Organization. In Europe, this blueprint is built on 38 regional targets, many of which have the underlying aim of uncovering new knowledge and of using existing knowledge more effectively. The targets related to a healthy environment have the ultimate goals of safeguarding human health against environmental hazards, and of enhancing the quality of life by providing clean and safe water, air, food, and working and living conditions. Allied to these goals is the need to reduce the sense of jeopardy that many people feel about what they perceive as 'the risks of everyday life'. These goals are an integral part of the European Charter on Environment and Health, adopted by 29 European Member States and the Commission of the European Communities in December 1989. The Charter stresses the shared responsibility of everyone to protect the environment, to be given adequate and accurateinformation, and to be involved in decision-making. It outUnes the principles for public policy as well as what needs to be done to transform them into action. In this, strong information systems have a vital role to play by helping to monitor the effectiveness of measures taken, of trends analysed, of priorities set and of decisions made.

Inhalt
Need of Information in Public and Environmental Health.- Environment and Health Data in Europe as a Tool for Risk Management: Needs, Uses and Strategies.- Indicators of Public Health and Environmental Quality.- Meta-Information Systems for Environment and Health.- The Components of Geographical Information Systems.- An Introduction to Geographical Information Systems.- The Integration of Information in Geographical Information Systems.- Organizational Aspects of Geographical Information Systems.- Data Aspects of Geographical Information Systems.- Analysis of Spatial Information.- Spatial Analysis in Health Research.- Strategies for the Use of Geography in Epidemiological Analysis.- Analysing Spatial Patterns of Disease: Some Issues in the Mapping of Incidence Data for Relatively Rare Conditions.- Applications of Geogrpaphical Information Systems in Public and Environmental Health.- The Exploration of the Possible Relationship Between Deaths, Births and Air Pollution in Scottish Towns.-Road Traffic Accidents Involving Children in North-East England.- Geographical Software Applications for Health Sector Planning: Experiences from a Study for Famine Management.- Geographical Information Systems: A New Tool in the Fight Against Schistosomiasis.- Geographical Information Systems and Spatial Epidemiology: Modelling the Possible Association Between Cancer of the Larynx and Incineration in North-west England.- The Potential Role of Geographical Information Systems Technology in Air Toxics Risk Assessment, Communication and Management.- Value Added by Geographical Information Systems.- Spatial Information to Make a Difference: Value Added Decision-Making in the Health Sector with Geographical Information Systems.- The Long-Term Potential of Geographical Information Systems for Epidemiology.- Implementing Geographical Information Systems.- Geographical Information Systems in Organizations: Some Conditions for Their Effective Utilization.- Building a Geographical InformationSystem in the European Community: The Corine Experience.- Implementing a Global Geographical Information System for Modelling Sustainable Environmental Quality: The Critical Load Experience.- Towards a Health and Environmental Geographical Information System for Europe.- Development of a Health and Environment Geographical Information System for the European Region.