Commission on Social Determinants of Health, 2005-2008

The Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) was established by WHO in March 2005 to support countries and global health partners in addressing the social factors leading to ill health and health inequities. The Commission aimed to draw the attention of governments and society to the social determinants of health and in creating better social conditions for health, particularly among the most vulnerable people. The commission delivered it's report to the World Health Organisation in July 2008 and it subsquently ended it's functions.

• More about the Commission

Overarching recommendations of the Commission:

• 1. Improve daily living conditions
• 2. Tackle the inequitable distribution of power, money, and resources
• 3. Measure and understand the problem and assess the impact of action

Final report of the Commission

Inequities are killing people on a "grand scale" reports WHO's Commission

"This ends the debate decisively. Health care is an important determinant of health. Lifestyles are important determinants of health. But... it is factors in the social environment that determine access to health services and influence lifestyle choices in the first place." Director-General Dr Margaret Chan, at the launch of the final report of the CSDH.

• The Report, Executive Summaries, backgrounders, stories and multimedia

Areas of work of the Commission

In order to achieve its goals, the Commission on Social Determinants of Health focused on the following:

• Country action
  The Commission supported some countries to develop policies that address the social causes of poor health and inequities.
• Civil society
  Civil society organizations from all regions provided vital inputs to the Commission's work.
• Knowledge networks
  The networks collated knowledge and evidence to support policy design and action.

Documents

• Background documents on the Commission

• • Interim Statement of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health 2007
  The Interim Statement sets out the Commission’s vision and goals, the problems it addresses, and the intellectual foundation for a social determinants approach.
• • A conceptual framework for action on the social determinants of health, 2007
  The paper aimed to share understanding of the issues surrounding health equity, and orient the work of the CSDH with a common framework. A first draft of the paper was prepared for the May 2005 Cairo meeting of the CSDH.
• • Social determinants, political contexts and civil society action, 2006 [pdf, 1.14Mb]
  A historical perspective on the CSDH.
• • Action on social determinants of health: learning from previous experiences, 2005
  Background information prepared for the CSDH.
• • Who we are (English) [pdf, 747kb]
  Details of the goals, themes, country examples, civil society participation, knowledge networks, and the Commissioners.
• • Who we are (French) [pdf, 5.54Mb]
• • Who we are (Spanish) [pdf, 5.51Mb]

• Dr Margaret Chan WHO Director-
  General

• Interview with Sir Michael Marmot, Chair CSDH
  Video [streaming wmv, 00:06:22]