Priorities in Health Equity Research

Commissioned by the World Health Organization - September 9, 2009

The discussion paper is available as PDF file [38p.] at

http://www.globalhealthequity.ca/electronic%20library/Priorities%20for%20research%20on%20equity%20and%20health. pdf.

“…The report of the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health was released in August, 2008. Subsequently, a group led by Sweden’s Piroska Östlin, comprising 14 researchers who were actively involved with the Knowledge Networks that supported the Commission, was commissioned by WHO to update an earlier (2005) report on priorities for health equity research. The new (September 9, 2009) discussion paper observes that:

“The bulk of global health research has focused on biological disciplines, to develop medical solutions, to be provided through clinical, individual patient care. The past two decades have witnessed a rise in a new public health paradigm, enlarging disciplinary perspectives, stakeholder analysis, and recognition that health systems can be designed more effectively through new knowledge. This paradigm shift represents a second wave of global health research. With the 10/90 gap embraced by many organisations as an objective to be reversed and the CSDH's report widely distributed, among other contemporary efforts, this paper argues that we are on the cusp of a third wave in global health research, one that explicitly links broader social, political and economic determinants with improvements in equity in health, within and across countries………”

GLOBALIZATION KNOWLEDGE NETWORK:
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION COMMISSION ON SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH