Action on the social determinants of health

Rev Epidemiol Sante Publique. 2013 Aug:61 Suppl 3:S127-32. doi: 10.1016/j.respe.2013.05.014. Epub 2013 Jul 9.

Abstract

Closing the Gap in a Generation, the final report of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) proposed that inequities in power, money and resources were responsible for much of the inequalities in health within and between countries. A toxic combination of poor policies and programmes, unfair economic arrangements and bad governance led to inequalities in the conditions of daily life: the circumstances in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age. Our message is that there needs to be a cross-government commitment to action on social determinants of health. With this commitment, the knowledge synthesised in our report suggests that there is much that can be done at the practical level.

Keywords: Conditions de vie; Daily-living conditions; Déterminants sociaux; Inégalités sociales; OMS; Social determinants; Social inequalities; WHO.

MeSH terms

  • Child, Preschool
  • Early Intervention, Educational / legislation & jurisprudence
  • Early Intervention, Educational / methods
  • Early Intervention, Educational / statistics & numerical data
  • Employment / statistics & numerical data
  • France / epidemiology
  • Health Policy
  • Health Status Disparities
  • Humans
  • National Health Programs* / legislation & jurisprudence
  • Social Determinants of Health* / legislation & jurisprudence
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • World Health Organization