📋 Tender Overview
Significant health gains have been made worldwide in recent decades, but their distribution remains highly unequal. These unfair, avoidable differences in health status are concentrated in already disadvantaged populations. The Special Initiative for Action on the Social Determinants of Health addresses health inequalities by generating evidence and actionable insights. Phase 2 advances normative work, evidence-based strategies, and advocacy to shape inclusive, health-promoting environments.
Country/region Topic Period Budget
Global
Health
Other
nothemedefined
Health systems strengthening
Health education
Sector not specified
01.02.2025 - 31.01.2029
CHF 3’200’000
The project in brief
Background Determinants of health equity are the social, economic, and environmental conditions that influence people's opportunities to achieve good health, such as income, education, employment, housing and access to healthcare. Advancements in public health, including improvements in nutrition and food security, clean water and sanitation, neonatal health care, antibiotics, vaccines, and other technologies, have significantly increased global life expectancy. However, health inequities persist between populations, communities and countries due to unequal social conditions and access to resources. Ensuring fair health and well-being for everyone requires addressing health inequalities through broad actions on all social factors that affect health, with efforts adjusted to the level of disadvantage. In collaboration with the SDC, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the Special Initiative for Action on the Social Determinants of Health for Advancing Health Equity in 2021. Developed with academic partners from the Institute of Health Equity at University College London and the University of Lausanne (UNISANTE), this initiative aims to tackle health inequities by building on evidence from WHO’s Commission on Social Determinants of Health. Switzerland’s expertise in advancing health equity, addressing the root causes of health disparities, and applying holistic, participatory, and multisectoral approaches, is central to the Initiative. The latter promotes evidence-based action to strengthen health equity, leveraging systemic change, nor-mative guidelines, and continuous advocacy, thus fully aligning with the Swiss Health Foreign Policy 2019-28. Phase 1 advanced global knowledge on social determinants of health, expanded training, strengthened regional support to establish intersectoral strategies and advocacy to integrate health equity into policies.
Objectives By 2028, the social determinants of health for at least 20 million disadvantaged people are improved, by ensuring that health equity, including gender dimensions, is integrated into social, economic and development policies.
Target groups Direct beneficiaries: people from communities in vulnerable settings who are directly affected by inequalities. Indirect beneficiaries: people who ac
