Social Determinants of Health Discussion Paper 1 (Debates). This paper was prepared for the lau
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nch of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) by its secretariat based at WHO in Geneva. It was discussed by the Commissioners and then revised considering their input.
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Good mental health is integral to human health and well being. A person’s mental health and many common mental disorders are shaped by various
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social, economic, and physical environments operating at different stages of life. Risk factors for many common mental disorders are heavily associated with social inequalities, whereby the greater the inequality the higher the inequality in risk.
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The attainment of Zambia’s goal of being a prosperous and middle-income country by 2030 as stipulated in its Vision 2030 is dependent on among others, a healthy and productive population. Therefor
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e, the Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) has prioritized health as a key socio-economic investment in the Seventh National Development Plan 2017-2021. The government is also committed to achieving the targets under the health goal number three and other health related targets under other goals of the 2030 Sustainable Development agenda. Despite progress which has been made in improving the health of Zambians, the country still faces a high burden of communicable diseases and a growing burden of non-communicable diseases. Structural and social deprivation including poverty, inequalities and marginalisation also remain major threats to health. In order to effectively address all the social determinants of health, all sectors should take into account health and well-being as a key element of policy development.
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This document adopts a health determinants framework for examining the evidence related to women’s poor mental health. From this perspective, pub
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lic policy including economic policy, socio-cultural and environmental factors, community and social support, stressors and life events, personal behaviour and skills, and availability and access to health services, are all seen to exercise a role in determining women’s mental health status. Similarly, when considering the differences between women and men, a gender approach has been used. While this does not exclude biological or sex differences, it considers the critical roles that social and cultural factors and unequal power relations between men and women play in promoting or impeding mental health. Such inequalities create, maintain and exacerbate exposure to risk factors that endanger women’s mental health, and are most graphically illustrated in the significantly different rates of depression between men and women, poverty and its impact, and the phenomenal prevalence of violence against women.
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To understand the patterns of Rwanda’s achievements in health development, it is important to explore how Rwanda addresses the Social
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Determinants of Health (SDH) particularly those related to routine conditions in which people are born, live and work. It is in this particular context that a case study on Rwanda’s Performance in Addressing Social Determinants of Health was conducted by the Rwanda Ministry of Health, with technical and financial support from the World Health Organization (WHO). The overall goal of the exercise was to document Rwanda's recent initiatives that contribute to the advancements of the Rio Political Declaration on Social Determinants of Health.
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Health is routinely considered in strategic environmental assessment (SEA) and environmental impact assessment (EIA), following requirements of European Union directives and the Protocol
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on Strategic Environmental Assessment to the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention). Policy-makers and other sources report that these assessments mostly adopt a biophysical perspective and that few cases consider or define health in a manner which is consistent with the WHO Constitution, by considering the wider social, economic, behavioural and institutional aspects of health. This systematically conducted review of over 333 SEA and EIA cases in the WHO European Region shows that while about 80% of assessments pursue a narrow, biophysical interpretation of health, around 10% consider wider determinants when defining health, and another 10% consider wider determinants of health in the actual assessment. Twelve case studies are presented, literature is reviewed and implications for practice are considered.
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Unmet mental health needs in the Region of the Americas are a leading source of morbidity and mortality, which result in tremendous
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health, social, and economic consequences. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the mental health crisis in the Region, necessitating urgent action at the highest levels of government and across sectors to build back better mental health now and for the future. This landmark report is the result of the PAHO High-Level Commission on Mental Health and COVID-19. It provides an analysis of the mental health situation in the Region, followed by a series of recommendations and corresponding actions to support countries in the Americas to prioritize and advance mental health using human rights- and equity-based approaches.
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This policy brief has been developed in response to the contemporary challenge of antibiotic resistance (ABR). ABR poses a formidable threat to global health and sustainable development. It is
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now increasingly recognized that the systematic neglect of cultural factors is one of the biggest obstacles to achieving better health outcomes and better standards of living worldwide. Using a cultural contexts of health approach, the policy brief explores the centrality of culture to the challenge of ABR. The brief examines how the prescription and use of antibacterial medicines, the transmission of resistance, and the regulation and funding of research are influenced by cultural, social and commercial, as well as biological and technological factors. The brief moves beyond the ready equation of culture with individual behaviours and demonstrates how culture serve as an enabler of health and provide new possibilities for change.
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Alcohol consumption is deeply embedded in the social landscape of many societies. Several major factors have an impact on levels and patterns of al
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cohol consumption in populations – such as historical trends in alcohol consumption, the availability of alcohol, culture, economic status and trends in the marketing of alcoholic beverages, as well as implemented alcohol control measures. At the individual level, the patterns and levels of alcohol consumption are determined by many different factors, including gender, age and individual biological and socioeconomic vulnerability factors, as well as the policy environment. Prevailing social norms that support drinking behaviour and mixed messages about the harms and benefits of drinking encourage alcohol consumption delay appropriate health-seeking behaviour and weaken community action
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To support the achievement of health equity in the Region, the regional inter-agency movement Every Woman Every Child Latin America and the Caribbean (EWEC-LAC) advocates for and supports the use
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of equity and evidence-based policies, strategies and interventions to accelerate equitable progress in the health of women, children and adolescents. Although progress has been made, great inequities persist. Women from the LAC region’s poorest countries are almost four times more likely to die due to complications during childbirth than those living in the wealthiest countries. Through the years, several tools, instruments and methods (TIMs) have been developed by global, regional and country partners that can be used to conduct systematic equity-based analyses and/or re-designs of health systems, programs, strategies and interventions. The main purpose of this document is to present an overview of existing TIMs that can be used by policymakers, program managers, development partners, nongovernmental organizations, academia and civil society partners to strengthen systematic identification, analysis and responding to social inequities in the health of women, children and adolescents in LAC. The TIMs included were identified through a systematic search process
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Every day, schools engage in numerous activities that help promote the health and well-being of students, families, and communities. There is clear evidence
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of the benefits of the health-promoting schools (HPS) approach, not only for improving overall health outcomes (physical, mental, and social) in the educational community but also for achieving better learning outcomes. The closure of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted these benefits, as well as the close links between health, wellness, and education.
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