Challenges of working at the country level on the social determinants of health and support needs
A consultation was convened by WHO with support from the Department of Health, England (UK) to discuss challenges to country implementation of the agenda to improve health equity by tackling the social determinants of health. The meeting was held at the Château de Penthes, Geneva, Switzerland from 2 to 3 June 2008.
The meeting built on the cumulative experience of the Commission, which presented its report to the WHO Director-General on 2 June 2008, but did not discuss the Commission recommendations themselves. The meeting was held to support the Department of Ethics, Equity, Trade and Human Rights (ETH) in transforming the broad mandate of Strategic Objective 7 of the WHO 2008 2013 Medium-term Strategic Plan (MTSP) into a departmental workplan. Strategic Objective 7 of the MTSP is "to address the underlying social and economic determinants of health through policies and programmes that enhance health equity and integrate pro-poor, gender-responsive, and human rights-based approaches". Implementation is addressed in specific objective 7.2 which focuses on the "initiative taken by WHO in providing opportunities and means for intersectoral collaboration at national and international levels to address social and economic determinants of health, including understanding and acting upon the public health implications of trade and trade agreements, and to encourage poverty-reduction and sustainable development".
Challenges to implementing the social determinants for health equity (SDHE) agenda in countries
This report describes the challenges of implementing an SDHE agenda for decision-makers in different countries as well as recommendations on the potential actions WHO can take to support these countries. These challenges and recommendations were discussed in a meeting of experts held in Geneva in June 2008, organized by ETH together with WHO regional office focal points. The meeting objectives were: (i) to gain greater clarity on the scope of practical implementation challenges and (ii) to outline the support needs of countries for meeting these challenges.