OAFP 9210 - Policy coherence for addressing the determinants of health equity

The course addresses the importance of political, social, economic and cultural determinants of health in advancing health equity in a post-pandemic era. It will therefore focus on understanding the importance of health determinants in the 2030 Agenda and the need for multisectoral action. It will explore examples of key determinants such as nutrition, migration, gender, social protection, digitalisation, climate change, access to medicines and technologies, urbanisation, water and sanitation. It will mobilise the theoretical, critical and practical skills needed to understand the challenges of policy coherence in multisectoral policy-making and advocacy (i.e. in the case of structural/systemic determinants such as discrimination embedded in policies, laws, institutions and social norms, e.g. racial inequalities), to identify good practices and bottlenecks in designing public policies with health determinants and equity at their core, and to advocate for improved coherence between national and international sectoral policies and political commitment.

Enrichetta PLACELLA

Enseignement électif

English

1-2 lectures for each session (on the different determinants). The readings are reasonably light but there is an expectation for student participation in the lecture, especially when these specific readings are being discussed.

Basic knowledge of global health and international cooperation dynamics. No knowledge of epidemiology required.

Spring 2024-2025

The aim of the course is to raise awareness of the impact of determinants on health and equity in access to health services. It is therefore an “awareness-raising exercise” that is not based on a theoretical or academic foundation. Therefore, an MCQ assessment method is not very appropriate. A more interactive method to stimulate critical thinking is proposed, as follows - An oral test with a role-playing exercise in groups on policy dialogue on an issue requiring coherence across sectors and between national and international cooperation dynamics (e.g., local production of medicines and technologies, knowledge transfer and intellectual property. A written test on a specific case of policy coherence in two parts: 1) understanding the health dimension and the impact of determinants in the case in question, 2) proposals for negotiation and policy coherence.

The first half of each session is a lecture, and the second half a class discussion of the key issues presented in the lecture and in required readings. Several international and Swiss experts will be mobilized to presente the various determinants explored in the class