Abstract
Health is a complex phenomenon that can be studied from different approaches. Despite a growing research in the areas of Social Determinants of Health (SDH) and health equity, effects of macroeconomic policies on the social aspect of health are unknown in developing countries. This study aimed to determine the effect of macroeconomic policies on increasing of the social-health inequality in Iran. This study was a mixed method research. The study population consisted of experts dealing with social determinants of health. A purposive, stratified and non-random sampling method was used. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect the data along with a multiple attribute decision-making method for the quantitative phase of the research in which the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) was employed for prioritization. The NVivo and MATLAB softwares were used for data analysis. Seven main themes for the effect of macroeconomic policies on increasing the social-health inequality were identified. The result of TOPSIS approved that the inflation and economic instability exert the greatest impact on social-health inequality, with an index of 0.710 and the government policy in paying the subsidies with a 0.291 index has the lowest impact on social-health inequality in the country. It is required to invest on the social determinants of health as a priority to reduce health inequality. Also, evaluating the extent to which the future macroeconomic policies impact the health of population is necessary.
Highlights
During the past two decades, the public health attention has shifted toward the Social Determinants of Health (SDH)
Based on the conceptual framework of social determinants of health inequality, this research aimed to determine the effect of macroeconomic policies on the social-health inequality in Iran based on expert opinion and identify the drivers of SDH in Iran
Some experts highlighted the fact that the macroeconomics policies such as subsides are important in rising inequality “Macroeconomic policies, such as subsidies have made major problems in health financing”
Summary
During the past two decades, the public health attention has shifted toward the Social Determinants of Health (SDH). The World Health Organization’s Commission of Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) has defined SDH as the conditions in which people are born, grow, live and work [1]. Despite a dramatic growth of research in SDH and health equity and great interest of governments and policy-makers to promote equity in healthcare, there is little evidence that healthy public policies are being adopted and implemented [4,5,6,7]. From the early 1990s to 2000, SDH was considered as the main concern of countries, but evidence shows that the social measures taken by these countries, developing countries, to decrease the inequality and promote health justice were unsuccessful [8,9,10,11]. The report of CSDH in 2008 encouraged action against health inequalities and fills the gap between socioeconomic and political factors through research on SDH
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: International journal of health policy and management
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
