Open AccessSocial determinants of health and oral health: An Indian perspective
Author(s) -
Viral Vijay Mehta,
G Rajesh,
Ashwini Rao,
Ramya Shenoy,
Mithun Pai
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the indian journal of occupational and environmental medicine/the indian journal of occupational and environmental medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.375
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1998-3670
pISSN - 0973-2284
DOI - 10.4103/0019-5278.165335
Subject(s) - normative , social determinants of health , order (exchange) , health care , commission , health policy , health equity , public economics , context (archaeology) , perspective (graphical) , public relations , economic growth , medicine , political science , business , computer science , economics , geography , law , archaeology , finance , artificial intelligence
Several conventional approaches have been tried in the past to resolve health inequities in India. However, achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is yet to be fully realized as the benefits have been meager. The recent concept of targeting social determinants of general and oral health in order to achieve health for all has shown positive results in the developed as well as the developing nations. Based on the framework recommended by the Commission on Social Determinants of Health, several policies have been introduced and suitably backed up with the intention of providing health care even to people living in remote sections of the society. This paper intends to highlight the rationale for social determinants approach in Indian context, its application and future recommendations for the same. It is considered as a radical approach, and adequate measures have been implemented by health systems to achieve the desired targets without delay. However, in order to achieve UHC, redistribution of the available resources and converting the "normative" needs into "felt" needs of the people is going to be an uphill task to accomplish.