The social determinants of health:Developing an evidence base for political action

Political briefing
• The health of individuals and of populations is determined to a significant degree by social factors.
• The social determinants of health produce widespread inequities in health within and between societies.
• The poor and the disadvantaged experience worse health than the rich and powerful, have less access to services and die younger in all societies.
• The social determinants of health and illness and health inequities can be described and measured although this is a complex process.
• The measurement of the social determinants provides evidence which is the basis for political action which may change the action of the determinants of health.
• Evidence is not the only basis for political action, although evidence constituted of experience or media reports might be.
• Evidence is generated and used in a continuous cycle involving evidence production, guidance and policy development, implementation, and then learning from the implementation to inform the evidence base.
• Evidence on the effects of policies and programmes on inequities can be measured and monitored and can provide an evidence base on the effects of interventions.
• Evidence about the social determinants of health is insufficient to bring about change on its own; political will combined with the evidence offers the most powerful response to the negative effects of the social determinants./.../
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The authors would like to thank Somsak Chunharas, John Lynch, Carlos Silva,
Cesar G Victora and Michael C Wolfson for their peer reviews of this report.