Determinants of Health

Time: 10.30am - 3.30pm

2011 World Conference on the Social Determinants of Health

WHO held a conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to get support from governments on actions to improve health equity and the social determinants of health.

A report written for the Conference by the Asia-Pacific Global Action on Health Equity (HealthGAEN) includes many stories of actions being taken in Asia and the Pacific (including New Zealand) to improve health equity.

Sharon Friel, the Chair of Asia-Pacific HealthGAEN, blogged about the conference saying it showed the best and worst of global health politics

Fran Baum who is an Australian public health leader, co-chair of the People’s Health Movement, and was one of the Commissioners for the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health,  blogged for the British Medical Journal before, during and at the end of  the meeting.

There were many expert speakers and frank discussions. The governments attending the conference, after considerable negotiations between their representatives, agreed to the Rio Declaration on Social Determinants of Health. 

The Rio Declaration, while useful, does not recognise the effects on health of unfair trade practices and climate change. When Professor David Saunders pointed this out to the Conference, he received a standing ovation from the floor. Civil society organisations produced an alternative declaration. Visit the Peoples Health Movement website to read the Alternative Declaration.

You can read WHO’s summary of the meeting and find many useful resources about social determinants and the Conference here.

Introduction

The WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health has produced a landmark report on actions to improve health and reduce inequalities. This report is of special relevance to health promoters.

The report, Closing the Gap in a Generation, says that avoidable inequities in health "arise because of the circumstances in which people, live, work and age and the systems put in place to deal with illness. The conditions in which people live and die are, in turn, shaped by political, social, and economic forces." It says that improving health requires actions to improve daily living conditions, tackle the inequitable distribution of power, money and resources, and measure and understand the problem and assess the impact of action.

At the 2009 HPF Symposium, the Governor-General said:

"It is often said that good health promotion is about ensuring healthy communities, symbolically represented by the fence at the top of the cliff rather than the ambulance at the bottom.

"The Commission went much further by effectively questioning why the cliff exists in the first place. It called for a new approach to development that saw health as the goal of all social policies rather merely a welcome by-product. And most strikingly, it challenged the nations, communities and the international community to close the health gap in a generation."

Workshop Objectives

While all health promoters are welcome, this workshop will be of special relevance for senior health promotion practitioners and leaders involved in planning, developing, and managing health promotion services.

You will gain more from the workshop if you are able to look at the Executive Summary of Closing the Gap in a Generation. You can find this in the Resources section on this web site, visit the Determinants of Health and Equity tab.

More information about the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health can be found at www.who.int/social_determinants

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the workshop we hope that you will be able to;

• Briefly describe the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health;
• Discuss the three key recommendations in Closing the Gap in a Generation;
• Describe at least one way in which you can apply the Commission's recommendations to your work;
• Identify at least one way of sharing the Commission's recommendations with your networks; and
• Know where to get further information.

About the Facilitator

Dr Alison Blaiklock is the Executive Director of HPF. She is taking a series of workshops around the country on the WHO Commission and its report and recommendations. Alison is a public health physician and her special interests are the health of children and young people, the determinants of health, and health and human rights.

General Information

There are only a limited number of places available so early registration is recommended.
Tea and Coffee will be served upon arrival and a light lunch will be included.
There are only a limited number of places available so early registration is recommended.