Social determinants of health and NCDs

Social determinants of health (SDH) are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, and the distribution of power, money and resources that drive these conditions. Examples of SDH include nutrition, education, housing, the built and natural environment, employment and working conditions, income/wealth, health care and the systems and policies that influence these conditions of daily life. In short, they are the causes of the causes of ill health – and for NCDs, this includes the upstream conditions that underlie exposure to main environmental, behavioural, biological and psychosocial risk factors. This chapter describes how inequalities in SDH shape inequalities in NCDs and their impact over all stages of life, with effects reflecting both past and present living conditions and the importance of national policies and programmes for addressing health inequities linked to NCDs. Examples of actions are described along different areas of SDH and levels of action and which sectors and entities need to be involved.