August 29, 2008	Friday	Sha’aban 26, 1429

GENEVA, Aug 28: A “toxic combination” of poverty and social injustice is killing people on a grand scale, a World Health Organisation report said on Thursday, urging states to fund healthcare to cut inequalities.

The Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, a report commissioned by the WHO and chaired by Sir Michael Marmot of University College London, said these health inequalities were avoidable but only if concerted efforts were made by governments and civil society.

“Reducing health inequities is an ethical imperative. Social injustice is killing people on a grand scale,” the report said.

Marmot told journalists that a girl born in Zambia can expect to live 43 years, while one born in Japan can expect to live twice as long, to 86 years.

“There is no good biological reason why this should be the case,” he said, instead pointing the finger at social factors that give rise to such a gaping disparity.

“These health inequalities are preventable. They arise from the circumstances in which people are born, grow, live, work and age the social determinants of health,” he said.

“Taking action to deal with preventable causes of illness means taking social action... a toxic combination of poor social policies, unfair economic arrangements and bad politics is responsible,” he added.

Healthcare must remain within the public sphere and universally available regardless of people’s ability to pay, he said.

“The commission considers healthcare a common good, not a market commodity,” the report said. “The commission advocates financing the health-care system through general taxation and/or mandatory universal insurance ... the evidence is compellingly in favour of a publicly funded health-care system,” it added.

Marmot said that whilst “virtually all” high-income countries had such a system, there is no reason why it should be adopted by other countries if governments show the necessary political will.

“We are distressed by the reports we see of healthcare simply being unavailable to people because of inability to pay, and we see that throughout lower-and middle-income countries,” he said.—AFP