World Conference on Social Determinants of Health & Consultation

The World Conference on Social Determinants of Health (WCSDH) is being convened by WHO and kindly hosted and supported by the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil. The World Conference will take place in Rio de Janeiro from 19 to 21 October 2011.

WHO is currently undertaking a public consultation on the current draft of the Technical Paper for the Conference to elicit comments and feedback. The Technical Paper aims to provide policy-makers with an overview of key strategies to implement action on social determinants of health to reduce health inequities and contribute to broader development, organized by the five Conference themes. The final version of this paper will inform discussions at the Conference. Comments on this current draft are welcome by Friday 3 June 2011 and can be submitted at the Consultation web page.

In particular, comments are sought on whether the draft fulfils its aims to inform the five themes of the Conference, and whether any major strategies for implementation of action on social determinants have been omitted.

The main themes that will be tackled during the Conference are:

• Governance to tackle the root causes of health inequities: implementing action on social determinants of health
• The role of the health sector, including public health programmes, in reducing health inequities
• Promoting participation: community leadership for action on social determinants
• Global action on social determinants: aligning priorities and stakeholders
• Monitoring progress: measurement and analysis to inform policies on social determinants

The aim of the World Conference on Social Determinants of Health is to bring Member States and other actors together to catalyse high level political support for national policies to address social determinants of health to reduce health inequities. Its specific objectives are to:

• strengthen political commitment by Member States to develop and implement national policies on social determinants of health to reduce health inequities;
• share experiences, challenges and technical knowledge on addressing social determinants of health, taking into account the need for strengthening governance arrangements and learning from different contexts.

For further information, please see the Conference website and the Consultation page.