Social determinants of health

Public health programmes and social determinants

A young child carries and infant on her back in Ecuador

Public health programmes often neglect the contribution that addressing social determinants of health can make to achieving health targets, including the Millennium Development Goals. Working with public health programmes to identify social determinants and health equity issues specific to public health programmes, and support to address those are important mandates of the Department of Ethics, Equity, Trade and Human Rights (ETH).

Priority Public Health Conditions Knowledge Network (PPHC KN) was one of the Knowledge Networks that was created to support the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH).

Key publications

Equity, Social Determinants and Public Health Programmes, 2010

This book is a collection of analyses of the social determinants of health that impact on specific health conditions and relative promising interventions to improve health equity.

Social determinants approaches to public health: from concept to practice

This book is a collection of case studies explaining implementation issues related to promising health programme interventions for addressing the social determinants of health to improve health equity.

Priority Public Health Conditions scoping paper

Paper on social determinants of health and equity, Priority Public Health Conditions Knowledge Network, framework for analysis, process timelines and milestones, proposed products by the Commission.

Priority Public Health Conditions Knowledge Network: Guides for phase 1, 2 & 3

The PPHC KN involved three phases: Phase 1: Analysis of public health conditions; Phase 2: Interventions and Implementation; and, Phase 3: Measurement. Tools were developed to support the public health programmes to do the analysis at each phase. The tools can be downloaded below:

SDH discussion forum

WHO film on social determinants of health

The commission

Other expert groups

Regional reports on Social Determinants of Health

Partners