Serious Crisis in the Practice of International Health by the World Health Organization: The Commission on Social Determinants of Health

Abstract

The Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) is the latest effort by the World Health Organization to improve health and narrow health inequalities through action on social determinants. The CSDH does not note that much work has already been done in this direction, does not make a sufficient attempt to analyze why earlier efforts failed to yield the desired results, and does not seem to have devised approaches to ensure that it will be more successful this time. The CSDH intends to complement the work of the earlier WHO Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, which has not had the desired impact, and it is unclear how the CSDH can complement work that suffers from such serious infirmities. Inadequacies of both commissions reflect a crisis in the practice of international health at the WHO, stemming from a combination of unsatisfactory administrative practices and lack of technical competence to provide insights into the problems afflicting the most needy countries. Often the WHO has ended up distorting the rudimentary health systems of the poor countries, by pressuring them into accepting health policies, plans, and programs that lack sound scientific bases. The WHO no longer seems to take into account historical and political factors when it sets out to improve the health situation in low-income countries—which is supposed to be the focus of the CSDH. An alternative approach is suggested.