WHO’s concept of social determinants of health and inequalities in health.
inequalities in health:
- arise from inequalities within and between societies
- Social and economic conditions —> effect on people’s lives —> determine risk of illness and the actions taken to prevent them becoming ill or treat illness when it occurs
ex:
between countries:
the infant mortality rate (the risk of a baby dying between birth and one year of age) is 2 per 1000 live births in Iceland and over 120 per 1000 live births in Mozambique
within countries:
in Bolivia, babies born to women with no education have infant mortality greater than 100 per 1000 live births, while the infant mortality rate of babies born to mothers with at least secondary education is under 40 per 1000
social determinants:
circumstances in which people are born, grow up, live, work and age, and the systems put in place to deal with illness. These circumstances are in turn shaped by a wider set of forces: economics, social policies, and politics.
- Every aspect of government and the economy has the potential to affect health and health equity (finance, education, housing, employment, transport, and health..
- health may not be the main aim of policies in these sectors, they have strong bearing on health and health equity.
different government departments’ policies must complement rather than contradict each other in relation to health equity —> For example, trade policy that actively encourages the production, trade, and consumption of foods high in fats and sugars to the detriment of fruit and vegetable production is contradictory to health policy