IUHPE and social determinants of health: setting an action agenda

Abstract

This commentary introduces the recently created IUHPE Global Working Group (GWG) on Social Determinants of Health, which provides a unique opportunity to bring a global health promotion response to the social inequalities that result from the unequal distribution of the social determinants of health. The two launch meetings of the GWG, which were held in the context of the conference `Closing the gap in a generation', enabled direct discussion and reaction with respect to the implementation of the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health's (CSDH) recommendations. Over the course of these meetings the group identified five main areas of work to specifically focus on over the next 18 months, leading to the 20th IUHPE World Conference on `Health, equity and sustainable development'. The discussions also facilitated the revision of the GWG's terms of reference, as presented in this commentary (Global Health Promotion, 2009; Supp (1): pp. 89—92)