The Rio Political Declaration on Social Determinants of Health (RPD)

1. The Rio Political Declaration on Social Determinants of Health (RPD) 3rd Peoples Health assembly, Cape Town 2012 Eugenio Villar Coordinator Social Determinants of Health WHO-Geneva

2. RPD: What Members States said? • Reaffirming EQUITY as a shared value and as a responsibility of all actors: “All for EQUITY”! • Underscoring EQUITY as in: WHO Constitution, Alma Ata declaration and Ottawa Charter • Reaffirming Health as a fundamental right • Expressing will of taking action on the Social Determinants of Health(SDH) at national and international levels

3. RPD: main themes • To promote participation in policy-making and implementation • To further reorient the health sector towards reducing health inequities: UHC based on c PHC • To strengthen global governance and collaboration that builds accountability • To adopt better governance for health and development • To monitor progress and increase accountability

4. To promote participation in policy-making and implementation, pledging to: • Promote and enhance inclusive and transparent decision making, implementation and accountability for health governance at all levels, including through enhancing access to information, justice and public participation • Empower the role of communities and strengthen civil society contribution to policy making and implementation by adopting measures to enable their effective participation for the public interest in decision making

5. To promote participation in policy-making and implementation, pledging to: • Promote inclusive and transparent governance approaches, which engage early with affected sectors at all levels of government, as well as support social participation and involve civil society and the private sector safeguarding against conflict of interests • Consider the particular SDH resulting in persistent health inequities for indigenous people (IP), in the spirit of the UN declaration on the Rights of IP, and their specific needs and promote meaningful collaboration with them in the development and delivery of related policies and programmes

6. To promote participation in policy-making and implementation, pledging to: • Consider the contributions and capacities of civil society to take action in advocacy, social mobilization and implementation on SDH • Promote health equity in all countries particularly through the exchange of good practices regarding increased participation to policy development an implementation

7. What is happening Post Rio? • SDH high global profile: Eg. Rio+20 UNASUR/INSAG, GFPHA, IFMSA • Member States placing SDH at the center of WHO’s Reform & next Global Prog. of Work • WHO secretariat: • How to cross cut SDH in all WHO Progs? • Key actions at Country, Regional and HQ • Launching a UN Platform on SDH • How to support capacity building

8. Risks (in neglecting structural determinants of health): • SDH to be “everywhere and no where” • SDH just an “approach” with no policy action • To be coopted as a discrete approach only in programmes and focused only on health risks (“selective” SDH?) • Separating actions on universal access to health services from SDH • Further restricting social policies/welfare state as a result of fiscal cuts due to global crisis

9. THANKS!! • www.who.int/sdhconference