Last week’s annual meeting of Health Ministers at the World Health Assembly of the WHO started with the shocking news of the sudden death of its Director General, and went on to review global health problems, including avian flu, the effects of patents on health care, and the drain of doctors from poorer to rich countries.
Equity in Health
Brief Review of the World Health Assembly
Third World Network Info Service on Health Issues, 30 May 2006: Khor, M
Further details: /newsletter/id/31496
The Commission on Social Determinants of Health: Tackling the social roots of health inequities
PLoS Medicine 3(6), June 2006: Irwin A, Valentine N, Brown C, Loewenson R; Solar O, Brown H, Koller T, Vega J
The greatest share of health problems is attributable to the social conditions in which people live and work, referred to as the social determinants of health (SDH). Good medical care is vital to the well-being of populations, but improved clinical care is not enough to meet today's major health challenges and overcome health inequities. Without action on social determinants, those countries in greatest need will neither meet the health-related Millennium Development Goals nor achieve global targets for reducing chronic diseases. The article discusses the conceptual and operational challenges thus faced by the commission.
WHO called to return to Alma-Ata Declaration
World Health Organisation
At the 59th World Health Assembly, Dr Serag challenged WHO to return to the principles of the Alma Ata Declaration in "Managing the Politics of Equity and Social Determinants of Health". The briefing drew sharper focus on the necessity of major health stakeholders to step up action on the social causes of ill-health. High-level policy makers, civil society members and WHO staff attended the briefing, proclaimed as a "historical moment" by a floor delegate. Among the attendees was Dr Halfdan Mahler considered to be the father of the Alma Ata Declaration and former WHO Director-General from 1973 to 1988.
Social capital and health: Does egalitarianism matter?
International Journal for Equity in Health 5:3: Islam MK, Merlo J, Kawachi L, et al
The aim of the paper is to critically review the notion of social capital and review empirical literature on the association between social capital and health across countries. Findings of this literature review led to the tentative conclusion that an association between social capital and health at the individual level is robust with respect to the degree of egalitarianism within a country.
Global Health Watch and Global Health Action
GEGA
The Global Health Watch for 2005-2006 looks at some of the most important problems, suggests solutions, and monitors the efforts of institutions and governments concerned with promoting health world-wide. This report arises out of many civil society and professional campaigns and struggles for better health, and has been released to coincide with the Second People's Health Assembly, held in Cuenca, Ecuador, at which two thousand people from across the world have gathered to discuss and debate strategies to overcome the political, economic and social barriers to better and fairer health.
Priorities for resarch to take forward the health equity policy agenda
WHO Task Force on Research Priorities for Equity in Health and the WHO Equity Team: Bulletin of the World Health Organisation; December 2005, 83 (12)
Despite impressive improvements in aggregate indicators of health globally over the past few decades, health inequities between and within countries have persisted, and in many regions and countries are widening. Our recommendations regarding research priorities for health equity are based on an assessment of what information is required to gain an understanding of how to make substantial reductions in health inequities. We recommend that highest priority be given to research in five general areas; described in detail in this article.
Further details: /newsletter/id/31457
The developing world in The New England Journal of Medicine
Lown BB, Banerjee AA: Globalization and Health 2006, 2:3
Rampant disease in poor countries impedes development and contributes to growing North-South disparities; however, leading international medical journals underreport on health research priorities for developing countries. The medical information gap between rich and poor countries as judged by publications in the NEJM appears to be larger than the gap in the funding for research. Under-representation of developing world health issues in the medical literature is a global phenomenon. International medical journals cannot rectify global inequities, but they have an important role in educating their constituencies about the global divide.
What evidence is there about the effects of health care reforms on gender equity, particularly in health?
Östlin P: Health Evidence Network, World Health Organization
In the last two decades, powerful international trends in health care reform have been observed around the world. Although health care reform is a global phenomenon driven by common financial and political actors, adopted reforms vary by country and region. Albeit from a European perspective, this article discusses how, regardless of the national and regional contexts in which health care reforms are implemented, the changes have fundamental consequences for many people's day-to-day lives and well-being.
Income inequality and population health: A review and explanation of the evidence
Social Science & Medicine
Whether or not the scale of a society's income inequality is a determinant of population health is still regarded as a controversial issue. We decided to review the evidence and see if we could find a consistent interpretation of both the positive and negative findings. We identified 168 analyses in 155 papers reporting research findings on the association between income distribution and population health, and classified them according to how far their findings supported the hypothesis that greater income differences are associated with lower standards of population health.
Social determinants of health inequalities
This paper studies the key issues underlying inequalities in health between and within countries as well as poverty and inequality. These include social determinants (poverty, inequality, and the causes of the causes). The paper emphasises that action is not only possible but also necessary. It further highlights the importance of meeting human needs.