It has been roughly twenty years since the World Health Organization (WHO) first developed and promulgated recommendations and guidelines for countries to best address social determinants of health in a sweeping effort to improve health equity across the globe. In the almost two decades that followed, many governments stepped up with public commitments to improve social determinants of health, but overall, meaningful advancement in this area has been lacking.
One key takeaway shared by health equity proponents is that a means of measuring, tracking and evaluating progress is essential in order to evaluate progress. For that reason, the WHO published an operational framework to measure health inequities and social determinants of health.
What are social determinants of health (SDOH), and how do they impact health equity? SDOH are characterized by the environments and conditions in which individuals live and work, as well as one’s access to monetary and other resources, all of which materially impact health inequities. It follows, therefore, that unless an operational framework for evaluating SDOH, such as the one just published by the WHO, can be adopted and espoused by governments throughout the world, efforts to monitor progress on SDOH across countries, regions, and various populations would be very difficult at best.
The WHO report offers a roadmap for countries on how best to address SDOH by applying data to develop policies and programs focused on improving health equity. As a resource to governments of both developed and developing nations, the publication was developed by experts both within the WHO and from representatives of member states.
Among the topics covered by the new WHO operational framework are:
<> Reviews of prior research on SDOH
<> An updated listing of identified SDOH
<> Detailed steps required for effective monitoring
<> Descriptions of ways in which to employ data to develop policy and programs to enhance health equity.
The WHO’s 2024 published report can be accessed here.