Enreca Health > News > Social injustice kills

2009-06-19

Social injustice kills

Social injustice kills: note from a seminar with Sir Michael Marmot held on June 12, 2009 at Eigtveds Pakhus.

On a stormy, rainy day more than 80 Danish and international researchers and policy makers gathered for a dialogue meeting with Sir Michael Marmot, former chair WHO's Commission on Social Determinants for Health. As a matter of fact the weather conditions were so hostile that the pilot of the SAS flight Michael Marmot came with had to do a so-called ‘manual landing' and Michael Marmot was still somehow recovering from this rather dramatic last minute arrival.

Professor Ib Bygbjerg, chair of ENRECA Health, welcomed the speakers and participants and pointed to the fact that social injustice is one of the factors causing illness in poor as well as rich countries. Lately, Dr Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, noted at the World Health Assembly on 18 May, 2009 that equity is a question of life and death saying that "We have to care about equity. We have to care about fair play". Slowly, a high level recognition of web of causes leading to ill health is materialising and the report that the Commission on Social Determinants of Health fostered -Closing the Gap- has stimulated this development tremendously.

Michael Marmot argued in his presentation for more action to address social inequalities. Not so much based on an economic rationale but rather as a means to promote social justice. He strongly called for better monitoring on the development of health status within the broad population, not only at the bottom 10%. He also underlined the importance of national monitoring, in poor countries with poor data as well as in rich countries. He is currently involved in the Annual Health Survey for England and even though he had been accused of talking ‘Scandinavian Nonsens!' by British officials. According to Marmot such an exercise can be extremely useful, and is also in the process in Sweden, and could also be beneficial in Denmark -nodding towards the representatives at the meeting from the Danish Board of Health. Marmot underlined the intersectorial aspects of health. According to him any sector is a health sector and any minister is a Minister of Health. The example he gave was road safety. He meticulously avoided naming them ‘road accidents' because he perceived them as -almost- planned murders by policy makers who omitted to take action to protect citizens against traffic crashed. The social inequality is backed up by recent evidence from WHO noting that while the safety for car drivers has been improved whereas the safety of pedestrians, motorcyclists and cyclists is still lacking behind .

Michael Marmot's presentation was followed by short introductions to Danish research that has been dealing with social justice and social determinants for health. The presentations ranked from a Danish perspective (by Finn Didrichsen ‘Some countries are better at translating wealth into health. Denmark is not one of them!' to an African perspective by Morten Sodemann ‘Death is contagious. If you know any doctor, your survival chances are greater than if you don't, in Guinea Bissau').

Cæcilie Buhman from the newly started NGO ‘Global Doctors' ended the day by thanking for all the presenters and the participants for showing commitment to the cause of global health.

For more information see WHO's report on Global status report on road safety 

For more information about Social Determinants see www.enrecahealth.dk/activities/seminars_and_meetings/social_determinants_of_health/   

Lise Rosendal Østergaard