Regional Workshop

Social determinants of health and health equity: Paradigm shifts and policy recommendations

The launching of the 2008 Report of the Commission of Social Determinants of Health was a major landmark in examining the role of the conditions in which individuals are born, live and work impact their health and well-being. The report highlighted that unfair structural forces play a significant role in driving health inequities within and between countries.

The flagship report encouraged work within two directions. The first direction focuses on the theoretical underpinnings of health inequities and recognizing inequities as violations of basic human rights and their equities as social success. This framing was further supported by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call to leave no one behind and working to ensure the sustainability of fair living conditions and policies not only for current generations but also for future ones.

The second direction aims to improve the assessment of health inequalities and the fairness of their root causes. It focuses on articulation and operationalization of the multilevel social framework, measurements, and data needs.

These two directions are explicitly highlighted in the recommendations of the Regional report on the Social Determinants of Health of the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO) of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the report of the Rockefeller Foundation and Boston University School of Public Health Commission on Health Determinants, Data and Decision-Making (3-D Commission). The recommendations also highlighted the need to build regional capacities and perspectives.

This workshop offers an opportunity to engage with the two directions with a focus on the Eastern Mediterranean Region, it is jointly organized by the Healthier Populations Department, World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean and the Social Research Center.