Social Determinants of Health and Health Equity in the WHO African Region

Abstract

The African Region is one of the six regions of the World Health Organization grouping 47 countries with a total population over one billion inhabitants. The WHO African region is known to have a large number of low-income countries with low human development. In terms of health indicators, this region has many critical average indicators compared with other WHO regions, with large inequalities and disparities between and within countries. This chapter describes and analyses some gaps in health indicators, trying to see how action on social determinants of health can reduce health inequities and improve health and well-being of African population, leaving no one behind. With a life expectancy average of around 60 years, African people are expected to live 17 years less than their counterparts in Europe and the gap between the highest and the lowest level of life expectancy in WHO African countries (76.3–52.2) is nearly a quarter of a century (24 years). Similarly, the under-five mortality rate in the WHO African region is much higher than in other WHO regions with huge gaps between WHO African countries. Within each country, inequalities in under-five mortality rate are described and analysed through social determinants of health like economic status, education level, residence (urban-rural) and geographic context. Health inequality and territorial disparity are also illustrated by huge gaps in maternal mortality ratio and other health indicators.