PHM-Exch> Action on social determinants of health is essential to tackle noncommunicable diseases

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Ruggiero, Mrs. Ana Lucia (WDC) <ruglucia at paho.org>
crossposted from: EQUIDAD at listserv.paho.org


** ** ** **

*Action on social determinants of health is essential to tackle
noncommunicable diseases

*

Kumanan Rasanathan & Rüdiger Krech
Department of Ethics, Equity, Trade and Human Rights, World Health
Organization, Geneva 1, Switzerland.****

*Bulletin of the World Health Organization October 2011;89:775-776. doi:
10.2471/BLT.11.094243

*

Available online at: http://bit.ly/nIxOak ****

** **

“…..Noncommunicable diseases cannot be effectively addressed without action
on social determinants of health. Without addressing social inequalities and
the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, along
with the reasons that health systems work better for some population groups
than for others – that is, adopting a social determinants approach –
prospects for reversing the noncommunicable diseases epidemics are poor.1***
*

** **

This year’s United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Prevention
and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (in **New York**) and the World
Conference on Social Determinants of Health (in ****Rio de Janeiro****)
provide a unique opportunity for progress. ****


There may never be a better global platform for countries, civil society and
international organizations to commit to a coherent social determinants
approach to tackling noncommunicable diseases and other global priorities at
local, national and global levels. In this context, we explain why a social
determinants approach is essential for combating noncommunicable diseases,
discuss what such an approach entails, and identify priority actions for the
global community…”


*Social determinants of health: practical solutions to deal with a
well-recognized issue

* *Rüdiger Krech -  Department of Ethics, Equity, Trade and Human Rights,
World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
*Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2011;89:703-703. doi:
10.2471/BLT.11.094870

 *Available online at: http://bit.ly/mTvy7F

*

“…..The call on governments to address the major challenge of health
inequities which are determined by the social conditions in which people are
born, grow, live, work, and age, is not new. The Commission on Social
Determinants of Health worked on this. Its report re-enforces the message
from the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, which itself was strongly
rooted in the commitments made at the International Conference on Primary
Health Care in Alma-Ata in 1978.1,2



The thinking behind the Alma-Ata Declaration, of course, dates back much
further. Public health pioneers, such as Rudolf Virchow, Robert Koch and
Oswaldo Cruz, had an in-depth knowledge of how social inequities relate to
health outcomes.3 Robert Koch, for instance, devoted a key part of his Nobel
Laureate speech in 1905 to the issue.4 And Brock Chisholm, the first
Director-General of the World Health Organization, asserted in 1949 that
“the death rate from pulmonary tuberculosis is now everywhere accepted as a
sensitive index to the social state of a community.”5


Today, we know that this statement is not only true for tuberculosis but
also for noncommunicable diseases, HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.
Reflecting that socio-cultural context is key to public health, the mandate
for the World Health Organization to assist Member States in addressing the
“causes of the causes” of ill-health is firmly rooted in its
constitution.4….”

*Global action on social determinants of health*


Michael Marmot

Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London,
London,  England.

*Bulletin of the World Health Organization October 2011;89:702-702. doi:
10.2471/BLT.11.094862

*Available online at: http://bit.ly/onSHJx



“…..Closing the gap in a generation is a rousing call.1 Did the World Health
Organization’s Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) really
believe it to be possible? Technically, certainly. Yes, there is a greater
than 40-year spread in life expectancy among countries and dramatic social
gradients in health within countries. But the evidence suggests that we can
make great progress towards closing the health gap by improving, as the CSDH
put it, the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age.



These include ensuring: equity for every child from the start, healthier
environments, fair employment and decent work, social protection across the
life course and universal health care. To make such progress, we must also
deal with inequity in power, money and resources – the social injustice that
is killing on a grand scale. At a more fundamental level, our vision is to
create the conditions so that every person may enjoy the freedoms that lead
to improved health – what we call empowerment.


In the three years since Closing the gap in a generation was published,
there is no question that there is much to make us gloomy: the global
financial crisis and the steps put in place to deal with it have worse
impacts on the poor and relatively disadvantaged; the persistence of bad
governance nationally and globally; climate change and inequitable measures
for mitigation and adaptation and, in many countries, an increase in health
inequity….”
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