Medical

Governments called upon to accelerate action to reduce health inequities

The WHO Executive Board discussed and approved a draft resolution calling upon governments to strengthen their efforts to address the social, economic and environmental determinants of health in order to reduce health inequities. The draft resolution, proposed by the Governments of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Norway, Peru, Switzerland, Thailand, United States of America and the Member States of the European Union, will be considered by the 74th World Health Assembly in May this year.

Among other actions, the draft resolution requests Member States to accelerate progress in addressing the unequal distribution of resources within and among countries; apply the health-in-all-policies approach in order to improve population health and reduce health inequities; mobilize financial, human and technological resources to enable monitoring of and addressing social determinants of health; and consider social, economic and environmental determinants of health in their recovery from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The WHO Director-General is requested to prepare a global report updating the scientific evidence and highlighting the evidence-based actions that can be taken; create an operational framework for measurement, assessment and addressing of the social determinants of health; provide Member States with technical knowledge for the design and implementation of cross-sectorial strategies, policies and plans; and strengthen collaboration in this work with other UN agencies, multilateral organizations, civil society and the private sector.

“The world has seen considerable health gains over the last century, but their distribution is vastly unequal,” notes Dr Etienne Krug, WHO Director of the Department of Social Determinants of Health. “While recognition has grown of the ‘upstream’ causes of these unfair differences, fast-tracked action is now needed to address them.”

At present there is a difference of 18 years of average life expectancy between high- and low- income countries. Relative inequalities between countries have not changed substantially in the previous decade, however, relative inequalities within countries between poorer and richer subgroups for diseases like cancer have, for example, increased in recent years. Opportunities to be healthy are closely linked to the conditions in which people grow, learn, live, work and age: some groups have poorer housing conditions and education, fewer employment opportunities, and little or no access to safe environments, clean water and air, food security and health care. These social, economic and environmental circumstances negatively affect health outcomes and lead to health inequities, which undermine human development across generations, leave whole communities behind and prevent people from fulfilling their potential.

To draw attention to the importance of health equity, the annual World Health Day on 7 April 2021 will focus on this topic.

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