Michael Marmot

Women are important. Educate them and some of the world’s biggest health challenges will improve. That’s the thesis of Sir Michael Marmot, Research Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College, London and chairman of the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health.

The social determinants of health are the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, including the health system. These circumstances are shaped by the distribution of money, power and resources at global, national and local levels. The social determinants of health are mostly responsible for health inequities - the unfair and avoidable differences in health status seen within and between countries.