India reiterated its commitment to enhance Social Determinants of Health during the G20 Joint Finance-Health Task Force High-Level Meeting held at the 79th session of UN General Assembly.
Social Determinants of Health (SDH)
- SDH are non-medical factors that influence health outcomes.
- They are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life.
- These forces and systems include economic policies and systems, development agendas, social norms, social policies and political systems.
- Examples of SDH: Education, income and social protection, unemployment and job insecurity, working conditions, food insecurity, housing, early childhood development, social inclusion, etc.
- WHO Commission on SDH aims to achieve three guiding targets by 2040:
- Halving life expectancy gap between countries and social groups,
- Halving adult mortality rates in all countries, and
- Achieve 90-95% reductions in child and maternal mortality.
Role of SDH in Health Outcomes
- Numerous studies suggest that SDH accounts for between 30-55% of health outcomes.
- Influences health inequities - unfair and avoidable differences in health status seen within and between countries.
- In countries at all levels of income, health and illness follow a social gradient: the lower the socioeconomic position, the worse the health.
India’s approach for SDH
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