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Fair society, healthy lives

TLDR
The case for putting fairness at the heart of all policy making is reviewed, highlighting the need for action on the social determinants of health in order to address health inequalities and the social gradient in health outcomes.
Abstract
The final report of the World Health Organization Commission on the Social Determinants of Health (CSDH), published in 2008, affirmed that social injustice was killing on a grand scale, with a toxic combination of 'poor social policies and programmes, unfair economic arrangements, and bad politics' being responsible for producing and reinforcing health inequalities. It provided a comprehensive evidence-based discussion of pervasive inequalities of health in many countries, demonstrating the presence of a social gradient in health outcomes associated with the unfair distribution of the social determinants of health. The social determinants of health include the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, and the fundamental drivers of these conditions: the distribution of power; money; and resources. Following publication of the CSDH report and recommendations for action, the UK Government commissioned a Strategic Review of Health Inequalities in England. This article provides an overview and reflection on the findings from the CSDH and the Strategic Review of Health Inequalities in England, reviewing the case for putting fairness at the heart of all policy making. In the process, it highlights the need for action on the social determinants of health in order to address health inequalities and the social gradient in health outcomes.

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Citations
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References
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Closing the gap in a generation: health equity through action on the social determinants of health

TL;DR: The Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) as mentioned in this paper was created to marshal the evidence on what can be done to promote health equity and to foster a global movement to achieve it.

Fair society, healthy lives: Strategic review of health inequalities in England post-2010

TL;DR: The Marmot Review report was published in February 2010, of the Strategic Review of Health Inequalities in England post-2010, which published its report Fair Society, Healthy Lives.
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Excess winter mortality in Europe: a cross country analysis identifying key risk factors

TL;DR: High seasonal mortality in southern and western Europe could be reduced through improved protection from the cold indoors, increased public spending on health care, and improved socioeconomic circumstances resulting in more equitable income distribution.
Journal ArticleDOI

It's not 'just deprivation': why do equally deprived UK cities experience different health outcomes?

TL;DR: Investigations of historical data suggest that it is unlikely that the deprivation profile of Glasgow has changed significantly relative to Liverpool and Manchester in recent decades; however, the mortality gap appears to have widened since the early 1970s, indicating that the 'effect' may be a relatively recent phenomenon.
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What role for the home learning environment and parenting in reducing the socioeconomic gradient in child development? Findings from the Millennium Cohort Study

TL;DR: The results suggest that relationships between family income and markers of ECD are amenable to change and the role of home learning, family routines and psychosocial environmental factors are potentially important in closing income gaps in ECD.
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