Investing in health particularly that of the poor is central to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. In support of this strategy WHO's Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean is actively promoting in countries of the Region community-based initiatives like Basic Development Needs Healthy Cities Healthy Villages and Women in Health and Development. These approaches are based on the principle that good health status-an important goal in its own right-is central to creating and sustaining the capabilities of poor people to meet their basic needs and to escape from poverty. The regional strategy outlined in this publication presents the multiple challenges that face progress towards the attainment of good health in particular for the poor in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. It articulates broad lines of action for public authorities and suggests the need to redress the existing imbalances between policy and allocation of public resources proposing a far stronger focus on the wider determinants of health.