Transcript Addressing Health Inequalities

Addressing Health
Inequalities
– 2014 and beyond –
The Swedish participation in Equity Action
Meeting in Stockholm, December 6, 2013
Why we are here? (1)
• The EU funded joint action Equity Action (2011–2014)
coming to its end.
Final conference in Brussels 23 January 2014:
www.health-inequalities.eu/HEALTHEQUITY/EN/events/equity_action_final_conference/
• Disseminate knowledge – about the project, but also about
wider initiatives and work on health inequalities at EU level; in
the WHO Europe Region, at national and regional level.
• Discuss how to implement the learnings from Equity Action to
address health inequalities – 2014 and beyond.
Why we are here? (2)
• Dissemination of results of projects financed by the EU
Health Programme (Swedish National Iinstitute of Public
Health is National Focal Point).
– In the new Health for Growth Programme (2014–2020)
dissemination of results is on a legal basis.
• The end of an era with the closure of the Swedish National
Institute of Public Health – and the start of the new Public
Health Agency in Sweden from 1 January 2014.
The Swedish participation in Equity
Action (2011–2014)
= Swedish National Institute of Public Health (SNIPH)
= The Västra Götaland Region
(
SNIPH has a coordinating role against the Ministry of Health.
Equity Action:
www.health-inequalities.eu/HEALTHEQUITY/EN/projects/equity_action
Work package 4 ’Tools’
"Tools to improve the health equity focus in cross government
policy making“.
WP4 of Equity Action aims to:
• Promote health equity focus in policy making, supported
through tools such as Health Impact Assessment (HIA);
• Build knowledge and skills through HIA training;
• Provide methods to consider equity in the policy making
process; and
• Develop consensus and make recommendations on how to take
forward a Health in All Policies approach.
What has been delivered?
Swedish National Institute of Public
Health has delivered two
publications:
- A case study: a HIA on actions
to reduce smoking in Sweden
(in Swedish).
- Learnings from the case study
(in English).
Please read more:
www.fhi.se/Equity-Action
HIA Meeting 5 December 2013
Ministry of Health, Stockholm
Infoga bild från möte.
Learnings from previous and ongoing work – and coming initiatives
to develop HIA as a tool for equity in health.
HIA frameworks and entry points
 Gothenburg Consensus Paper (1998)
Main definition: ”A combination of procedures, methods and tools by which a
policy, programme or project may be judged as to its potential effects on the
health of a population, and the distribution of those effects within the population”.
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Health in All Policies (2006)
The WHO Marmot Commission – Closing the Gap (2008)
Regional and local initiatives:
Malmö Commission; The Joint action for social sustainability
reduces health inequalities – ”Integrate equity in health into
all policies, and into regular governance and management”.
 Work on HIA in Norway and Copenhagen..
The role of EU in addressing health
inequalities
• Inequalities in health – an important part of the work of the
EU since 1992 when specific competencies for public health
were included in the Maastricht treaty.
• The EU institutions contribute to reducing health inequalities
across the social gradient through a variety of strategies,
policies, programmes and initiatives which affect the socioeconomic determinants of health.
• However, large differences in health still exist between and
within all countries in the EU, and some of these inequalities
are widening.
Health inequalities between countries,
regions and social groups in the EU
• Life expectancy – A difference of nearly 12 years for men between the
Member State with the highest (79,1 years) and lowest life expectancy
(68.1). A difference of 8 years for women (85,7 years) and (77.8 years).
• Healthy life years – A difference of 19 years between lowest and highest
values in the EU.
• Life expectancy at birth – The gap between most and least advantaged
regions in the EU was 13.4 years for men, 10.6 years for women.
• Infant mortality rates – seven EU regions have infant mortality rates greater
than 10 per 1000 live births.
• The estimated gap in life expectancy at age 30 for men between the least
and the most educated varied from around 3 years up to 17 years in different
Member States. For women the gap was varying from 1 to 9 years.
WHO European Region: ”Review of social
determinants and the health divide in the
WHO European Region.
European Commission Report: ”Report
on health inequalities in the European
Union”.
EU Policies on health inequalities
• The EU Commission's strategy to address
health inequalities is set out in the
Commission Communication –
Solidarity in Health: Reducing Health
Inequalities in the EU, published in 2009.
• Key issues in the Communication:
-
An equitable distribution of health as part of overall
social and economic development;
Improving the data and knowledge base and
mechanisms for measuring, monitoring, evaluation and reporting;
Building commitment across society;
Meeting the needs of vulnerable groups;
Developing the contribution of EU policies.
Addressing health inequalities in the EU
• EU Health Strategy ‘Together for Health’ – adopted in 2007.
- responds to challenges faced by member countries by
strengthening cooperation and coordination across the EU;
- complements national health policies in line with Art. 168 of
the Trety of the functioning of the EU.
The principles and objectives identified
in 2007 will remain valid for the next
decade in the context of Europe 2020.
The EU Health Programme
 The EU Health Programme – as well as the Cohesion and
Structural Funds, the Research and Innovation Funds (Horizon
2020) – can support investment in health all across the EU.
 The current EU Health Programme (2008–2013):
Promote health and reduce health inequalities one of three
prioritized areas.
 The coming EU Health Programme Health for Wealth (2014–
2020): Health inequalities are mainstreamed.
Publication of a Health Inequalities Projects brochure in 2014.
”Actions to reduce health inequalities in Europe
must at all levels remain a priority”.
Tonio Borg
EU Health Commissioner
Discussion
How can we address health inequalities at
different levels – 2014 and beyond?
Opportunities and priorities.