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WHO’s Director of Health Protection and Promotion, Dr Haifa Madi (left), and Manager of Health Promotion and Non-Communicable Diseases at the Public Health Department during a workshop yesterday. Salim Matramkot
DOHA: Early childhood development plays a major role as a determinant that affects life, according to experts at the social determinants of health workshop being held at the Supreme Council of Health.
Several social and economic conditions influence individual and group differences in health, however early childhood problems like obesity could make a big difference in a persons health, said Dr Haifa Madi, Director, Health Protection and Promotion, Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, World Health Organisation (WHO) the Social Determinants of health workshop, yesterday. Dr Madi was speaking on ‘Global commitment on the social determinants of health’ at the social determinants of health workshop organised by the Health Promotion and Non-Communicable Diseases Division at the Public Health Department at the Supreme Council of Health together with the WHO.
“Many determinants effect life than health. Early childhood development is one of such major things affect life. What children eat at early age effect their life in future,” said Dr Madi.
“Living in certain conditions help how it affects life. A child living with fast food is more likely to have non-communicable diseases in the future. All sectors outside the health sector should work together to address the issues,” she added. Social determinants of health are the economic and social conditions — and their distribution among the population — that influence individual and group differences in health status.
They are risk factors found in one’s living and working conditions such as the distribution of income, wealth, influence, and power, rather than individual factors such as behavioural risk factors or genetics that influence the risk for a disease, or vulnerability to disease or injury.
The workshop was held to educate healthcare professionals and the policy makers in other sectors like education on the concept of social determinants of health and the importance of its integration.
The Peninsula
