Oral

The Social Determinants of Health, after the WHO Commission on Social Determinants, are the circumstances in which people are born, grow up, live, work and age and the systems put in place to deal with illness. These circumstances are in turn shaped by a wider set of forces: economics, social policies and politics. Amongst the actions to address the inequalities deriving from the above are those in the areas of governance, the health sector and programmes, promotion of participation, aligning global priorities and stakeholders and monitoring progress. Through the presentations of the members of this panel we will deal with current practical examples and research needs from across this spectrum of actions to address social determinants of health from a global health perspective. Social capital- a broad term including social relations, networks and values- is an important under recognized factor at community level in developing countries that can be promoted to improve community participation and health. The health programs we will present illustrate how promotion of community participation and circumstances that shape inequalities can be addressed through health programs. Our latter presentations will illustrate how progress in monitoring improvements in social capital through health programs can be addressed.

Session Objectives: List the range of activities that are currently being undertaken to address the social determinants of health in health programs in developing countries and appreciate the need to use a combination of them to produce change; appreciate the elements of social capital and its role in addressing the social determinants of health; explain the role of governance is addressing the social determinants of health; understand how activities to address the social determinants of disease can be evaluated.