By providing information on other sector's agendas, policy approaches and their health impacts, and by illustrating areas for potential collaboration, the "Social Determinants of Health Sectoral Briefing Series" encourages more systematic dialogue and problem solving and more collaboration with other areas of government. Examples of intersectoral action for health--current and historical--reveal that health practitioners are frequently perceived as ignoring other sectors' goals and challenges. This creates barriers to intersectoral work, limiting its sustainability and expansion. In order to avoid this perception, instead of starting from the goals of the health system (e.g. health, health equity, responsiveness, fairness in financial contributions), the "Social Determinants of Health Sectoral Briefing Series" focuses on the goals of other sectors. Rather than concentrating on traditional public health interventions (e.g. treatment, prevention, protection), the series uses the goals of other sectors to orient its analyses and explore areas of mutual interest.The target audience for the series is public health officers who are not experts on determinants of health, but who have responsibilities for dealing with a broad range of development issues and partners. Each briefing will focus on a specific policy area, summarizing and synthesizing knowledge from key informants in health and other areas, as well as from the literature. It will present arguments, and highlight evidence of impacts and interventions, with special emphasis on health equity. It will make the case to health authorities for more proactive and systematic engagement with other sectors to ensure more responsive and cohesive governments that will meet broader societal aspirations for health, equity and human development.