Department of health
The Department of Health, England, has
commissioned Sir Michael Marmot to lead a Post-2010 strategic review of health
inequalities, which will provide leadership across government to develop a joint
approach to tackling health inequalities. The final report will be submitted to
the Secretary of State for Health, by the end of 2009. The review will
contribute to the development of a post cross-government national health
inequalities strategy.
WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health
The Commission on Social Determinants of
Health (CSDH) reported to the World Health organization (WHO) in August
2008. The CSDH presented evidence from around the world on the degree of health
inequities between and within countries; on the relationship between the
conditions of daily living, structural matters of power, money and resources and
health inequities; and outlined key areas of policy and action that can be taken
to address these inequities. The work of the CSDH supports countries and global
partners to address the social factors leading to ill health and inequities.
With this report, the CSDH has called upon all governments to lead global action
on the social determinants of health with the aim of achieving health
equity.
University College London (UCL)
Responding to the CSDH global call to action,
Professor Sir Michael Marmot, head of the UCL Department of Epidemiology and
Public Health, and chair of the CSDH, has been asked by the UK government to
chair an independent review to propose the most effective strategies for
reducing health inequalities in England from 2010. The aim of the Marmot Review
is to propose an evidence based strategy for reducing health inequalities from
2010. The strategy will include policies and interventions that address the
social determinants of health inequalities.
Based within the Department of Epidemiology
and Public Health, the Global Health Equity Group (GHEG) is partly supported by
the DH and is concerned with research, training and knowledge translation in
matters relating to social determinants, environmental sustainability and global
health equity. The GHEG houses the Strategic Review of Health Inequalities in
England. GEHG was home to the Commission on Social Determinants of Health, and
is helping to lead the post-CSDH global health agenda.
EuroHealthNet
EuroHealthNet links the bodies in the states
and regions associated with the EU that are responsible for public health,
health promotion and health determinants. Our mission is to improve health and
equity for people in those areas. We do that by supporting projects and policy
development together with our members and EU institutions; by exchanging
information and by communications in and beyond our network.
EuroHealthNet is responsible for developing
the Equity Channel as a way to help the partners in this international
collaboration to communicate with interested people and bodies. We are also
working to improve EU policies in relevant fields, to inform and involve other
bodies in partnerships, and to develop innovative approaches to
support that.
Information about our work and members can be found at
www.eurohealthnet.eu
Determine
One of the largest ever health project teams in Europe has been brought
together by EuroHealthNet and partners in the consortium called Determine.
Co-funded by the European Commission Directorate-General for Health, and
working closely with partners such as the WHO Office for Investment in Health, its 3-year mission is
to identify approaches to address the social determinants of health in EU member
states.
The project has reported on the situation in countries and investigated how
economics play a part in health decisions. It has looked at new approaches to
working with business and other sectors, and is backing some new ideas. It has
challenged policy makers to spell out what is needed to achieve change, and is
helping to build the skills and actions to do that.
All that progress plus links to much more can be found at www.health-inequalities.eu
Gradient
GRADIENT is a research project which has received funding from the EU's Seventh
Framework Programme. It addresses health inequalities among families and
children with the aim to influence policy-makers in taking necessary steps to
reduce the health gradient.
The Gradient project strives to develop a consensus-based European Framework
to monitor and evaluate public health policies and their impact on the gradients
that exists in the social determinants that generate health inequalities. The
project also seeks to investigate if and why children and families from
different socio-economic groups respond and act differently to public health
policy interventions, and to identify protective factors for the health of
children and young people and their families focusing on social relations and
social networks, in order to explore alternative policy options that moderate
social inequities in health. Finally, the Gradient aims to analyse and compare
the impact of general policies for families and children with the impact of
policies targeted at ‚at risk‘ families and children in different
policitical contexts (4 Member States), to formulate policy recommendations at
European, national, regional and local level and to disseminate the findings
across the EU.
For more information, please visit http://www.health-gradient.eu
Business in the Community
Business in the Community (BITC) is one of
The Prince’s Charities with more than 850 member companies. Business in the
Community works with business to make a positive impact in the community,
marketplace, workplace and environment, by promoting corporate responsibility.
Business in the Community is working with the Department of Health to engage
relevant business partners and develop a framework for business action on the
social determinants of health, opening a dialogue with the private sector on
issues in the UK. Business in the Community are also engaging their
CSR360 Global Partner Network to work internationally on
this agenda.
European Health Management Association (EHMA)
EHMA is a membership organisation that aims
to build the capacity and improve the quality of health management in Europe.
Under the IC SDH EHMA has been commissioned by the Department of Health in
England to deliver a Policy into Practice programme. The programme is focused on
using international evidence and expertise on improving health in local
government to equip English local authorities to better tackle the social
determinants of health.
The programme will include:
- Taking the best European evidence on promoting health in local government
and making it available and applicable to local authorities;
- Bringing international experts to work with local authorities on putting
evidence into practice;
- Reporting back the lessons from putting evidence into practice to policy
makers and researchers, both in England and across Europe.
International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE)
The IUHPE will contributes to the
programme’s collaboration discussions and reflections and supports advocacy
and action on the social determinants of health (SDH) in this field, by bringing
input specifically around capacity building for developing a health promotion
approach to act on the SDH from a series of initiatives and projects it is
currently engaged in at the global level, with a particular focus on the
global south.
National Heart Forum (NHF)
The NHF modelling team, will initially using
Health Survey for England data, create a demonstration micro simulation program
on the determinants of avoidable chronic diseases related to tobacco such as CVD
(cardiovascular diseases) and Cancer and the resultant consequential
inequalities. NHF will then model the quantifiable impact of specific evidence
based public health interventions to address the issues.
European commission
The European Commission has announced a
communication on reducing health inequalities in the EU in its work programme
for 2009 as an initiative on „Solidarity in Health“. The EU has a range of
policies that can contribute to reducing health inequalities if properly
targeted such as public health, employment, social policy and regional policy.
It is already working on a range of lifestyle related risk factors for health
that are a cause of health inequalities, such as alcohol, tobacco, accidents,
nutrition, physical activity.
The Centre for Health Economics, York University
The Centre for Health Economics at York
University is involved in a number of initiatives in the area of health equity,
including research into the social determinants of health, funding mechanisms to
promote health equity, integrating equity into health technology assessment, and
methods for the economic evaluation of public health initiatives.
National Social Marketing Centre (NSMC)
The National Social Marketing Centre (NSMC)
has been commissioned to provide strategic and operation marketing support to
key partners for the SDH programme. In addition to this, The Centre has also
been commissioned to develop and promote a series of short films outlining
effective SDH interventions.
www.nsms.org.uk
WHO Department of Ethics, Trade, Human Rights and Health Law (ETH)
www.who.int/eth/en
WHO European Office for Investment for Health and Development
The WHO European Office for Investment for Health and Development, Venice,
Italy (the Venice Office), was established in 2003 with the specific mandate to
a) synthesize the emerging evidence on social determinants of health and health
inequities across Europe and b) to develop appropriate services to support
European Member States to address the social and economic determinants of health
central in public health and broader development policy and investments.
The Venice Office is a key resource within the European Region of WHO for
convening multi country and multi stakeholder projects and events designed to
share good practices and build consensus on issues of critical importance to
countries in tackling the social determinants of health and reduction of health
inequities (for example multi-country consultation on social determinants of
health and the Poverty & Health Consultation).
www.euro.who.int/ihd
WHO Department of Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion
The WHO Department of Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion facilitates
global, regional and national efforts to promote health and to prevent and
control major chronic diseases, their risk factors and socio-economic
determinants.
European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies
Faculty of Public Health (FPH)
Health Action Partnership International (HAPI)
Health Action Partnership International (HAPI) brings together leading
professionals and organisations with skills and experience from across a broad
spectrum of action to promote and maintain health.
www.hapi.org.uk
