4089.0: Tuesday, November 18, 2003: 10:30 AM-12:00 PM | |||
Oral | |||
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| Around the globe, when the health of different groups within societies is examined, disturbing disparities are apparent. In rich countries such as the USA, just as much as in poor countries, such as Bangladesh, opportunities for good health are found to be highly unequal. We term these disparities “inequities” because their causes can be judged to be both avoidable and unfair. This session highlights some of the key conclusions of the Global Health Equity Initiative (GHEI), funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and SIDA, which set out to find ways of identifying and challenging inequities in health in 15 countries around the world. This session begins with an outline of the latest thinking on the causes of these health disparities, drawing attention to the importance of social determinants in their generation and maintenance. A conceptual framework is presented which identifies four main pathways leading to inequities in health, which in turn helps to pin-point potential entry points for policy action. The second presentation provides evidence from studies in the USA and Bangladesh, to illustrate the way in which social determinants and impacts have been investigated. The third presentation focuses on the key elements in developing a policy response to inequities in health. It concludes with some reflections on the opportunities now opening up for a more concerted global response to this major challenge. The session concludes with an opportunity for questions and discussion from the floor. | |||
| Learning Objectives: At the end of the session, participants should be able to: 1. Give examples to illustrate their understanding of what inequities in health within countries are. 2. Describe two or more social determinants of health and how these might act to generate inequities. 3. Explain how public health policies might help address these inequities in health. 4. List some opportunities to address the challenge of inequities in health from an international perspective. | |||
| See individual abstracts for presenting author's disclosure statement and author's information. | |||
| Jeanette Vega A. M. R. Chowdhury, PhD Margaret McRae Whitehead, PhD | |||
| John H. Bryant, MD | |||
| Social determinants of health disparities, Timothy Evans, D.Phil., MD | |||
| Evidence from the USA and Bangladesh, Mushtaque Chowdhury, MSc, PhD | |||
| Developing a policy response to inequities in health: A global perspective, Margaret Whitehead, PhD | |||
| Discussion | |||
| Organized by: | APHA-Special Sessions | ||
| CE Credits: | Pharmacy | ||