Monday, 10 November 2008

Details are available on their website or by download of the Who Commission Final Report – Executive Summary, 2008

A couple of key excerpts from the press release:

Today, the Commission presents its findings to the WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan.
"(The) toxic combination of bad policies, economics, and politics is, in large measure responsible for the fact that a majority of people in the world do not enjoy the good health that is biologically possible," the Commissioners write in Closing the Gap in a Generation: Health Equity through Action on the Social Determinants of Health. "Social injustice is killing people on a grand scale."

"Health inequity really is a matter of life and death," said Dr Chan today while welcoming the Report and congratulating the Commission. "But health systems will not naturally gravitate towards equity. Unprecedented leadership is needed that compels all actors, including those beyond the health sector, to examine their impact on health. Primary health care, which integrates health in all of government's policies, is the best framework for doing so."

Sir Michael Marmot, Commission Chair said: “Central to the Commission’s recommendations is creating the conditions for people to be empowered, to have freedom to lead flourishing lives. Nowhere is lack of empowerment more obvious than in the plight of women in many parts of the world. Health suffers as a result. Following our recommendations would dramatically improve the health and life chances of billions of people.”

Recommendations

Based on this compelling evidence, the Commission makes three overarching recommendations to tackle the "corrosive effects of inequality of life chances":

• Improve daily living conditions, including the circumstances in which people are born, grow, live, work and age.
• Tackle the inequitable distribution of power, money and resources – the structural drivers of those conditions – globally, nationally and locally.
• Measure and understand the problem and assess the impact of action.

Friday, 01 August 2008

This plan is the result of a 6-month consultative process. The plan provides information on the early childhood landscape in Richmond, highlights the impacts Richmond Children First has made to the community and provides exciting strategic directions on how we can all work together to ensure that children will thrive in Richmond.

Richmond Children First is part of British Columbia’s early child development (ECD) strategy, committed to developing an integrated system of effective services and supports for young children and their families at the community level. Richmond Children First brings together people and organizations who share a common vision and collective responsibility for the health & well-being of all young children in Richmond. Richmond Children First is a community initiative funded by the provincial government through the Ministry of Children and Family Development.

Richmond First Strategic Plan for 2008-2011

For further information or to receive a hard copy of the plan pleae contact:
Helen Davidson
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone: (604) 241-4035