PHA-Exchange> March 18 - Launch of WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health

[Claudio]

From: Ruggiero, Mrs. Ana Lucia (WDC) 

Commission on Social Determinants of Health


Website:  http://www.who.int/social_determinants/en/ 

Much of the profound inequity in peoples' health within and between countries is socially determined. It arises from the circumstances in which people live and work. The thee-year, high-level Commission on Social Determinants of Health will leverage change in policy and institutional practice by turning existing knowledge on social determinants into actionable global, regional and national policy agendas.

To achieve this, the Commission will compile and make visible the relevant evidence on key social determinants and the policies and interventions that address them. It will support and promote the implementation of such policies and interventions by Member States, and by national, regional and global health actors, including WHO. 

What will the Commission deliver?

The Commission aims to lever policy change by turning existing public health knowledge into actionable global and national policy agendas. It will:

·         Compile evidence on successful interventions and formulate policies that address key social determinants, particularly for low-income countries; 

·         Raise societal debate and advocate for implementation by Member States, civil society, and global health actors of policies that address social determinants; 

·         Define a medium- and long-term action agenda for incorporating social determinants of health interventions/approaches into planning, policy, and technical work within WHO. 

What are the main products of the Commission?

Country work will illustrate ways of addressing the social determinants of health in national health policies and programmes related to the Commission's themes. Partner countries will document their findings with respect to the policy process and health impacts. Their reports will inform the Commissioners' recommendations, both for national and global policies and ways of working at WHO.

Knowledge Networks comprised of leading scientists and practitioners will compile knowledge on interventions to overcome the social barriers to health, with a focus on low-income countries. The Knowledge Networks will cover themes including: early child development, health systems, employment conditions, globalization, priority public health conditions, urban settings, social exclusion, and measurement of the impact of social determinants approaches on health outcomes.

Commission Reports will outline opportunities for action on the social determinants of health for each theme, and recommend specific areas of policy and institutional change to global and Member State stakeholders.

Using existing WHO, UN, and Member State fora for policy outreach and integration-and in close collaboration with other UN agencies and WHO programmes-the Commission will deliver targeted policy recommendations for overcoming social barriers to health.

A WHO Report will propose concrete mechanisms for incorporating social determinants of health interventions and approaches into WHO programmes.

What are concrete examples of social determinants of health interventions?

The Commission is dedicated to identifying effective approaches and producing policy recommendations for overcoming the social barriers to health. In this process, innovative initiatives such as the following will be evaluated and their potential for widespread replication explored:

·         Health inequalities impact assessments; 

·         Health needs assessments for disadvantaged groups; 

·         Prevention and health promotion campaigns targeting vulnerable groups; 

·         "Health action zones" declared for areas deprived of services; 

·         Local authority scrutiny of inequalities; 

·         Occupational health services for all employees; 

·         Job rotation for laborers in high-risk jobs; 

·         Employment protection for chronically ill citizens; 

·         School-based health and nutrition services; 

·         Healthy food catering to workplaces; 

·         Healthy community trainings; 

·         Social welfare programmes that make benefits conditional on children's school attendance, regular medical check-ups and other health-promoting actions; 

·         Integrated public budgeting based on health and health equity objectives for the country. 

Knowledge networks 

The Commission will convene processes that organize knowledge, strengthen country practice and support leadership. These processes will be structured around specific themes (e.g., early child development, urban settings and health systems); the health challenges faced by particular communities (e.g., temporary and informal workers, indigenous peoples, and slum dwellers); and opportunities for policy and action. Knowledge Networks comprised of leading scientists and practitioners will compile knowledge on interventions to overcome the social barriers to health, with a focus on low-income countries. 

       
     
Knowledge network themes

Early child development 
Priority public health conditions 
Health systems 
Measurement 
Employment conditions 
Globalization 
Urban settings 
Social exclusion

 

 

 Note: PHM's Dr Fran Baum has been selected as a member of this Commision. Dr Ravi Narayan has also been invited to the lauching of the Commission in a cermony in Santiago, Chile on March 18.

Claudio



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://phm.phmovement.org/pipermail/phm-exchange-phmovement.org/attachments/20050311/fe81497c/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 2752 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://phm.phmovement.org/pipermail/phm-exchange-phmovement.org/attachments/20050311/fe81497c/attachment-0001.jpg>