Africa Knowledge Management Portal
Informing health decisions and actions
Equity, social determinants and public health programmes
Health Risk Environment
Other
Description
The report of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health, issued in September 2008, challenged conventional public health thinking on several fronts. The report responded to a situation in which the gaps, within and between countries, in income levels, opportunities, health status, life expectancy and access to care are greater than at any time in recent history. As the report argued, improving the health of populations, in genuine and lasting ways, ultimately depends on understanding the causes of these inequities and addressing them.