[EQ] Priorities for Research on Equity and Health: Towards an Equity-Focused Health Research Agenda

Priorities for Research on Equity and Health: Towards an Equity-Focused Health Research Agenda

Piroska Östlin1*, Ted Schrecker2, Ritu Sadana3, Josiane Bonnefoy4, Lucy Gilson5, Clyde Hertzman6, Michael P. Kelly7, Tord Kjellstrom8, Ronald Labonté9, Olle Lundberg10, Carles Muntaner11, Jennie Popay12, Gita Sen13, Ziba Vaghri14

1 World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2 Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine and Institute of Population Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada, 3 World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, 4 School of Public Health, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile, 5 University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa, and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom, 6 Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, 7 Centre for Public Health Excellence, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, London, United Kingdom, 8 National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, 9 Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine and Institute of Population Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada, 10 Centre for Health Equity Studies, Stockholm, and Department of Health Sciences, Mid Sweden University, Östersund, Sweden, 11 Social Equity and Health Section, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, 12 Division of Health Research, Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom, 13 Indian Institute of Management, Centre for Public Policy, Bangalore, India, 14 Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

PLoS Med 8(11): e1001115. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001115 -  November 1, 2011

Available online at: http://bit.ly/tK4Ahx

SUMMARY POINTS

“…..Based on extensive review of global evidence, the recommendations of the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health highlight the need for strengthening research on health equity with a focus on social determinants of health.

 

To do so requires a paradigm shift that explicitly addresses social, political and economic processes that influence population health; this shift is under way and complements existing research in medicine, the life sciences and public health.

Reflecting further synthesis and stakeholder consultations, an agenda for future research on health equity is outlined in four distinct yet interrelated areas:
(1) global factors and processes that affect health equity;
(2) structures and processes that differentially affect people's chances to be healthy within a given society;
(3) health system factors that affect health equity; and
(4) policies and interventions to reduce health inequity.

Influencing regional and national research priorities on equity and health and their implementation requires joint efforts towards creating a critical mass of researchers, expanding collaborations and networks, and refining norms and standards, with WHO having an important role given recent mandates…..” 

 

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