Determinants of Health

The health of individuals and communities depends on a multitude of economic, social, cultural, and environmental factors. These factors are closely interlinked and require an integrated approach based on the inextricable link between human health and the health of the planet. Investing in reducing risk factors is crucial for public health, and the return on investment benefits societies with a healthy population. This is why SDC fosters cross-thematic work and engagement with other sectors and stakeholders that are game-changers in addressing the root causes of ill-health (e.g. nutrition, water and sanitation, education, air pollution, urbanism, migration, and employment). Its activities also aim to encourage behavioural change and ensure that the poorest of the poor can exercise their right to health.

Video of an SDC supported nutrition project

• Recommended Readings

  • A New Global Policy Framework for Adolescent Nutrition?

    Adolescence is a time when the multiple faces of malnutrition clearly materialise, as exemplified by overweight adolescents who were stunted children, or obese children with micronutrient deficiencies.

    PDF252.65 kB8 January 2022

  • Building Resilience to Climate Breakdown to Prevent Ill Health

    Eastern and southern Africa is coping with an upturn in severe weather events. The consequence of increasingly common climate disasters is often food insecurity, displacement and socioeconomic instability. Amid this humanitarian emergency, UNAIDS and its partners are working together to recognize and strengthen the resilience of affected communities as part of the AIDS response and ensure that hard-won progress is protected.

    PDF153.62 kB1 January 2019

  • Cop26 Special Report on Climate Change And Health: The Health Argument For Climate Action

    The 10 recommendations in the COP26 Special Report on Climate Change and Health propose a set of priority actions from the global health community to governments and policy makers, calling on them to act with urgency on the current climate and health crises.

    PDF4.92 MB1 January 2021

  • Food choice in transition: adolescent autonomy, agency,and the food environment

    Dietary intake during adolescence sets the foundation for a healthy life, but adolescents are diverse in their dietary patterns and in factors that influence food choice. More evidence to understand the key diet-related issues and the meaning and context of food choices for adolescents is needed to increase the potential for impactful actions.

    PDF3.37 MB8 January 2022

  • Global Nutrition Report: The State of Global Nutrition

    The 2021 Global Nutrition Report (GNR) offers the world’s most comprehensive picture of the state of global nutrition and assesses the scale of the challenges faced in the fight to tackle poor diets and malnutrition in all its forms. This year’s report provides a concise data-focused update on the stateof diets and nutrition around the world.

    PDF4.26 MB1 December 2021

  • Health For Everyone? Social Inequalities in Health And Health Systems

    This publication analyses inequalities in health and health systems and thus provides a key insight for the discussion of how societies can become more inclusive. It looks into socio-economic differences in the exposure to risk factors to health, health status, the utilisation of health services, unmet health care needs and coverage.

    PDF7.19 MB1 January 2019

  • Health Impacts of Large Natural Resource Extraction Projects in Tanzania

    Tanzania is rich in natural resources and saw a rapid growth of the extractive industries sector in recent years. Mining projects can support economic development. At the same time, they have positive and negative impacts on public health.

    PDF4.06 MB1 January 2022

  • Healthy Environments for Healthier Populations: Why Do They Matter, and What Can We Do?

    Known avoidable environmental risks to health cause at least 12.6 million deaths every year, and account for about one quarter of the global burden of disease (2016 data) (1). Air pollution alone causes about 7 million deaths a year, placing it among the top global risks to health.

    PDF5.50 MB1 January 2019

  • Inequality Kills: The unparalleled action needed to combat unprecedented inequality in the wake of COVID-19

    Here’s a hard truth that the pandemic brought home to us. Unequal access to incomes and opportunities does more than create unjust, unhealthy, and unhappy societies: it actually kills people.

    PDF2.06 MB1 January 2022

  • My Right, My Health

    The just rule of law is a critical social determinant of people’s health and well-being. The period from 2008 to 2018 saw fundamental shifts in the legal environment in Malawi for people living with, at risk of and affected by HIV. This casestudy examines the factors leading to change in Malawi, including the critical role played by civil society organizations, the inspiring advocacy of women living with HIV, the strategic dialogues among communities, parliamentarians and government representatives, and the technical assistance and high-level advocacy with the support of the UNAIDS Joint Programme.

    PDF327.92 kB1 January 2019

  • Nourishing Our Future: The Lancet Series on Adolescent Nutrition

    Adolescence is a time of phenomenal growth. During adolescence height velocity is second only to the first 2 years of life and every physiological system is transformed. Yet adolescent growth and nutrition have been overlooked in the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition

    PDF522.11 kB8 January 2021

  • Strategies and Interventions for Healthy Adolescent Growth, Nutrition, and Development

    Adolescence is a pivotal point in the life course, characterised by transformative physical, cognitive, and emotional growth, an openness to change, and a drive to reshape the social environment. It offers unique opportunities to adopt changes in diet and physical activity that can persist into later life.

    PDF435.43 kB8 January 2022