Improving daily living conditions is the key to reducing the health inequalities between rich and poor countries, says a report published by the World Health Organization, which aims to close the gap within the next generation.
The report summarises the findings of a three year investigation by WHO's commission on the social determinants of health, whose members include leading policy makers, academics, former heads of state, and former ministers of health.
Children have massively different expectations of longevity and general health, depending on where they live, according to the report. Life expectancy of children is more than 80 years in Japan or Sweden, 63 years in India, and less than 50 years in several African countries. The poorest populations have high levels of illness and premature mortality.
And even within countries, those at the bottom end of the socioeconomic scale have worse health outcomes than those at the top.
"It does not have to be this way," the report argues, "and it is not right that it should be like this.
"Where systematic differences in health are judged to be avoidable by reasonable action they are, quite simply, unfair. Putting right these inequities—the huge and remediable differences in health between and within countries—is a matter of social justice."
The commission is calling for the health gap to be closed within a generation. The commission considers that this requires a strong public sector and governance that is dedicated to equity at all levels, from communities to global institutions.
Closing the Gap in a Generation: Health Equity through Action on the Social Determinants of Health is available at www.who.int.
