101 Ways to Improve Health Equity: IFEH Policy 10 (110m Panel Lecture)

At the last IFEH Conference in Vilnius Policy 10 was approved which aims to improve health equity. The Policy is based on the WHO report of 2008 "Closing the gap in a generation" which set out three principles of action:

1. Improve the conditions of daily life – the circumstances in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age.
2. Tackle the inequitable distribution of power, money, and resources – the structural drivers of those conditions of daily life – globally, nationally, and locally.
3. Measure the problem, evaluate action, expand the knowledge base, develop a workforce that is trained in the social determinants of health, and raise public awareness about the social determinants of health.

The International Federation for Environmental Health accepts its responsibility for working with others ‘to close the gap in inequities within a generation’. It is important that we set out some practical steps for member organizations to adopt and follow. It is accepted that EHPs across the world have widely differing roles and responsibilities but all have a common objective of working to improve the health of communities. 

IFEH Member Organizations will have members involved in addressing the broad range of issues :

• safer and affordable food,
• future availability of food - food security
• climate change,
• safer water,
• future availability of safe water,
• safer environment and clean air,
• safer workplaces,
• safer and healthy schools,
• improved sanitation
• affordable and healthy housing,
• an absence of fuel poverty
• healthy transport forms
• reduction in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions,
• epidemiology and infectious disease control
• non-communicable and lifestyle disease

The session will illustrate how colleagues around the world are working to Health Policy 10 to make a difference. Postcard type examples will be presented which describe actions that have been taken, what problem they are addressing and what outcomes are being delivered.

The session will give inspiration about what is being achieved by the global environmental family. As we want to expand the richness of contribution we will be asking the audience at the end of the session to make an individual pledge about action they will take to improve health equity locally, nationally or internationally. We will ask them to put the pledge on a message board and to update us on actions before 2016 conference.