PRESS RELEASE
The need for political action
Better living conditions for better health
Montreal, February 5th 2009 –Inequality is killing people on a grand scale. Living conditions that can be improved by public policy have much more influence on the health of populations than does health care. This, at least, is the message that Professor Sir Michael Marmot, Chair of the World Health Organization's Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, delivered in the auditorium of the École Le Plateau to 500 people. The audience consisted mostly of researchers, students, and politicians, including Dr. Yves Bolduc, Quebec's minister of health and social services.
Professor Marmot explained that if Cubans, despite their low standard of living, have a life expectancy similar to that of Americans, this is a clear signal that measures that provide healthier living conditions are effective remedies. Politics and policy can make a big difference in this respect, he added. During his talk, the British doctor dealt at length with possible fields of action. "All inequalities in health that are attributable to socioeconomic conditions are unjust, and call for solution," he said, repeatedly. Closing the Gap in a Generation: Health Equity through Action on the Social Determinants of Health, the report that the Commission on the Social Determinants of Health published in August of 2008, recounts examples of interventions on living conditions that improved the health of populations. Data gathered from around the world on the effects of social determinants of health and on proven solutions, are, for the first time, accessible. For Sir Michael, this report follows the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in 1948, and the Alma-Ata Declaration ("Health for All"), in 1978, as another important milestone in the march of humanity towards justice.
Sir Michael Marmot, a doctor specializing in public health, is director of the International Centre for Health and Society, and professor of epidemiology and public health at UniversityCollege, London. For the past 30 years he has been at the forefront of research into health inequities. He chairs the Department of Health Scientific Reference Group on Tackling Health Inequalities, and the Research and Development Committee of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE). He also chairs committees of the British Heart Foundation and the Wellcome Trust. He was awarded a knighthood in 2000 by Her Majesty the Queen of England for his services to epidemiology and to understanding health inequalities. He was Chair of the World Health Organization's Commission on the Social Determinants of Health He currently holds the McLaughlin-Gallie Visiting Professorship of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
His talk was jointly presented by the Centre de recherche Léa-Roback, the Institut national de santé publique du Québec, the École de santé publique of the Université de Montréal, and McGillUniversity.
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Source:Danielle Massé
Communications Advisor - Centre Léa-Roback
Tel.: 514 528-2400 extension 3525
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