Abstract :
The final report of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Commission
on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH), Closing the gap in a generation:
Health equity through action on the social determinants of health, was published
in August 2008 (CSDH, 2008; Marmot et al., 2008). Welcoming the
document on behalf of WHO, Director-General Margaret Chan noted: ‘‘the
Commission’s main finding is straightforward: the conditions in which people
are born, live, and work are the single most important determinant of good
health, or ill health; of a long and productive life, or a short and miserable
one’’ (Chan, 2008). The report presents an excellent overview and analysis
of the range of structural factors that influence individual and population
health, and makes a number of practical recommendations that seek to ensure
that avoidable health inequalities are levelled out, so that everyone has an equal
opportunity of leading a healthy life. Roughly around the time of publication
of the CSDH report, and in the 60th anniversary year of the NHS, the UK
Department of Health (DH) held a consultation on a draft NHS Constitution.
The document aimed to set out the NHS’ fundamental values and principles
and included a range of individual rights of NHS users, detailing also their
responsibilities.
