Driving forward health equity: the role of accountability, policy coherence, social participation and empowerment

Abstract

A scientific expert review process coordinated by the WHO European Office for Investment for Health and Development of the WHO Regional Office for Europe identified societal and institutional factors that singly and in combination offer new explanations on why progress on health equity has not been as fast as had been hoped when the association between individual determinants and inequities was first established. These four key drivers of health equity are: accountability, policy coherence, social participation and, underlying them,empowerment. Work on these drivers informs the Health Equity Status Report initiative (‎HESRi)‎ and has resulted in three independent companion papers each elaborating further on one of the common goods for health equity– accountability, policy coherence and social participation – as well as this summary paper.