Denny Vågerö talks about the social determinants of health

"We have researchers and staff from a variety of fields like sociology, psychology and public health sciences all working together on issues concerning public health," says Professor Denny Vågerö, Director of CHESS since 2000.

"Our aim when we partnered with Karolinska Institutet to set up CHESS back in 2000 was to bring together a variety of academic disciplines to help better study and understand the social determinants of health," says Professor Vågerö. "We aim to better understand how human society acts as a life-long determinant of health and hope that this knowledge will provide a better basis for reducing health inequalities."

With doctoral students from both Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University working alongside each other, often supervised by staff from a variety of disciplines, Professor Vågerö is excited by the interdisciplinary research being done at the Centre.

"The doctoral students are very good at breaking down the barriers between their subjects," he explains. "They're very good at working  together, complementing each others skills and knowledge in the  pursuit of a better scientific understanding of what affects human health."

The research being done at CHESS has been picked up by Swedish policy makers as well as the international community.

In August this year researchers at CHESS involved in the NEWS project  published a report linking research on social policy and public  health, highlighting the Nordic experience. The findings made a  significant contribution to the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH). The aim of the commission was to examine the health inequalities that exist between different countries and try to  understand why these inequalities are increasing on a global scale.

"There are massive differences between countries," says  Denny Vågerö. "Japanese women live more than four decades longer than women in Botswana. There's no compelling biological reason for this inequality. What's most significant is a country's history and its present level of social and economic development."

"The main message from reviews and original analyses carried out  within the NEWS project is that universal social policies, at least those  directed toward children and the old, tend to be positive for  population health," says Professor Olle Lundberg –one of the project leaders.

"Social policy, such as income transfer programmes, is of importance  for population health, says the other  project leader at CHESS, Professor Johan Fritzell. "This is a key message that we have reasons  to believe is of great relevance also on the global scene."

With researchers  looking at international health issues, the Centre's teaching is also becoming increasingly international.

On September 1st 2008, the Centre's new Master's programme in "Population health: Societal and individual perspectives" began,  welcoming students from around the world.
 
The course, taught in  English, gives students the opportunity to experience the broad range of experience and competence at what is one of Stockholm University's  fifteen leading research areas.

For information about the Centre's new Master's programme, please visit: Population Health - Societal and Individual Perspectives

Denny Vågerö recently gave an interview in conjunction with a conference held in London, 6-7 November 2008, on Closing the Gap in a Generation: Health Equity through Action on the Social Determinants of Health. The interview is available on the United Kingdom Department of Health website: www.csdhconference.org

Text: Jon Buscall. Jon Buscall is a freelance journalist.