Sir Michael Marmot speaks at IPPH event

Social gradients of health are found across the globe in both the world’s richest and poorest countries. But these gradients should not be accepted as the norm, said Sir Michael Marmot, former Chair of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Commission on Social Determinants of Health, during a recent visit to Ottawa.

Sir Michael, who is current Commissioner of a WHO European Review on the Social Determinants of Health, spoke at University of Ottawa May 28 at a private reception hosted by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Population and Public Health (CIHR-IPPH). He discussed the main messages of his 2008 report and shared research from Europe that highlights benefits of improving social determinants of health for populations.

In his presentation, Sir Michael argued that taking action on social determinants of health is a matter of social justice. Though social gradients of health will likely always exist, the magnitude of these gradients varies over time and between countries. Sir Michael stressed that governments have the ability to improve these gradients and, by doing so, can reduce the all-cause mortality of their citizens.

“Spend the money to improve people’s lives and it works — that’s what the evidence shows,” said Sir Michael in his presentation.

For example, he showed that increased spending in family support initiatives, employment opportunities and unemployment benefits have all been shown to reduce rates of suicide in populations.

“We are trying to get a more just society. And if we achieve that, we’ll know we’ve done it because we will have improved health and reduced the magnitude of avoidable health inequalities,” he said.

Sir Michael’s message is particularly important to Canadian academics and policy makers.

“The truth is that Canada, one of the 10 richest countries in the world, is so wealthy despite the scary global economic times that it manages to mask the reality of poverty, social exclusion, discrimination, employment erosion, mental health and youth suicides,” noted the Honourable Monique Bégin, former commissioner on Sir Michael’s Commission and one of the speakers who introduced Sir Michael. “While one of the world’s biggest spenders on health care, we have one of the worst records when it comes to providing and effecting a social safety net.”

Sir Michael was also introduced by Dr. Richard Massé, Chair of the IPPH Institute Advisory Board, Dr. Judith Bossé, Assistant Deputy Minister for the Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention Branch within the Public Health Agency of Canada and Denis Prud’homme, Dean of University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Health Sciences.