The World Health Organization Commission on Social Determinants of Health (SDH) places great emphasis on the role of multi-sector collaboration in addressing SDH. Despite this emphasis on this need, there is surprisingly little evidence for this to advance health equity goals. One way to encourage more successful multi-sector collaborations is anchoring SDH discourse around ‘sustainability’, subordinating within it the ethical and empirical importance of ‘levelling up’. Sustainability, in contrast to health equity, has recently proved to be an effective collaboration magnet. The recent adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provides an opportunity for novel ways of ideationally re-framing SDH discussions through the notion of sustainability. The 2030 Agenda for the SDGs calls for greater policy coherence across sectors to advance on the goals and targets. The expectation is that diverse sectors are more likely and willing to collaborate with each other around the SDGs, the core idea of which is ‘sustainability’.
World Health Organization (WHO). Closing the gap in a generation: health equity through action on the social determinants of health: Commission on Social Determinants of Health – final report. Geneva: WHO; 2008.
2.
World Health Organization (WHO). Intersectoral action for health: the role of intersectoral cooperation in national strategies for Health for All. Geneva: WHO; 1986
3.
MarmotM. The Health Gap: The Challenge of an Unequal World. London: Bloomsbury Publishing; 2015.
4.
KickbuschIBehrendtT. Implementing a health 2020 vision: governance for health in the 21st century. Making it happen. Copenhagen: World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe; 2013.
5.
BélandDCoxRH. Ideas as coalition magnets: coalition building, policy entrepreneurs, and power relations. J Eur Public Policy. 2016; 23: 428–445.
6.
DohlmanE. The importance of a policy coherence lens for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals. OECD Insights;2016, pp.37–40.
7.
BélandDCoxRH. Ideas and Politics in Social Science Research. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2015.
8.
LabontéRStucklerD. The rise of neoliberalism: how bad economics imperils health and what to do about it. J Epidemiol Community Health. Epub ahead of print 2015. DOI:10.1136/jech-2015-206295.
9.
HomedesNUgaldeA. Why neoliberal health reforms have failed in Latin America. Health Policy. 2005; 71: 83–96.
10.
De LeeuwEPetersD. Nine questions to guide development and implementation of Health in All Policies. Health Promot Int. 2015; 30: 987–997.
11.
De LeeuwEHoeijmakers M, Peters DTJM.Juggling multiple networks in multiple streams. European Policy Analysis. 2016; 2: 196–217.
12.
De LeeuwE. Engagement of sectors other than health in integrated health governance, policy and action. Annual Review of Public Health. Epub ahead of print 11January2017. DOI: 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031816-044309.
13.
SenA. The Idea of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 2011.
14.
SenA. Why health equity?Health Econ. 2002; 11: 659–666.
15.
RugerJP. Ethics of the social determinants of health. Lancet. 2004; 364: 1092–1097.
16.
LeiserowitzAAKatesRWParrisTM. Sustainability values, attitudes, and behaviors: a review of multinational and global trends. Annu Environ Resour. 2006; 31: 413–444.
17.
DoraCHainesABalbusJFletcherEAdair-RohaniHAlabasterGet al. Indicators linking health and sustainability in the post-2015 development agenda. Lancet. 2015; 385: 380–391.
18.
BretonE. A sophisticated architecture is indeed necessary for the implementation of Health in All Policies but not enough: comment on “Understanding the role of public administration in implementing action on the social determinants of health and health inequities.” Int J Health Policy Manag. 2016; 5: 383–385.
19.
LinVCarterB. From healthy public policy to intersectoral action and health-in-all policies. In: McQueenDV (ed) Global Handbook on Noncommunicable Diseases and Health Promotion. New York: Springer; 2013, pp.189–201.
20.
NewmanLLudfordIWilliamsCHerriotM. Applying Health in All Policies to obesity in South Australia. Health Promot Int. Epub ahead of print 2014. DOI: 10.1093/heapro/dau064.
21.
MeadowsDHMeadowsDLRandersJBehrensIII WW. The Limits to Growth. New York: Potomac Associates Book, Universe Books; 1972.
22.
United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development. Our Common Future. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1987.
23.
BakerS. Politics of Sustainable Development. London: Routledge; 2012.
24.
PearceD. Blueprint 3: Measuring Sustainable Development. New York: Routledge; 2014.
25.
De AndradeLOPellegrini FilhoASolarORigoliFde SalazarLMSerratePCet al. Social determinants of health, universal health coverage, and sustainable development: case studies from Latin American countries. Lancet. 2015; 385: 1343–1351.
26.
LangloisEVCampbellKPrieur-RichardAHKareshWBDaszakP. Towards a better integration of global health and biodiversity in the new sustainable development goals beyond Rio+20. EcoHealth. 2012; 9: 381–385.
27.
Prüss-ÜstünACorvalánC. Preventing disease through healthy environments. Towards an estimate of the environmental burden of disease. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2006.
28.
RasanathanKDamjiNAtsbehaTBrune DrisseMNDavisADoraCet al. Ensuring multisectoral action on the determinants of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health in the post-2015 era. BMJ. 2015; 351: h4213.
29.
World Health Organization (WHO). Transport (road transport): shared interests in sustainable outcomes. Geneva: WHO; 2011.
30.
HidalgoDPereiraLEstupiñánNJiménezPL. TransMilenio BRT system in Bogota, high performance and positive impact – main results of an ex-post evaluation. Research in Transportation Economics. 2013; 39: 133–138.
31.
MorenoCMiralles-GuaschC. The bicycle as a real feeder to the TransMilenio system in Bogota and Soacha. International Journal of Transport Development and Integration. 2017; 1: 92–102.
32.
WhiteheadMDahlgrenG. Levelling up (part 1): a discussion paper on concepts and principles for tackling social inequities in health. Copenhagen: World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe; 2006.
