The Nordic countries are seen as a prototype of a welfare state in which the public sector has a responsibility for social protection and health care services. The Nordic welfare states are distinguished by their emphasis on universal social policies instead of targeted, selective and means-tested policies. The Nordic countries have been successful in reducing poverty and fostering equality of opportunity as well as equality of outcomes, both with regard to socioeconomic status, income and gender. By providing many citizens with welfare resources through welfare state institutions, universal social policies are also likely to affect public health .The target to increase health equity and to reduce health inequalities is stated in all national health policies. With the decreasing mortality, however, increasing social inequality in mortality has been reported. Therefore, after a proposal from Denmark, NOMESCO decided in 2012 to start a project on health inequalities. The aim of this project was subsequently focused in exploring the potential differences in preventable mortality due to smoking- and alcohol-related deaths in the Nordic countries.