19/11/2007
For the past two years, the ETUI-REHS Health and Safety Department has been involved in the work of an international network of experts looking at how employment and working conditions play into social inequalities in health. The network is one of the nine branches of the Commission on the Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) set up by the WHO in May 2004.

The network, known as EMCONET, put in a draft report to the WHO at the beginning of November. Health and Safety Department researcher Laurent Vogel contributed to the report’s contents through the insights he gave into trade union action on social inequalities in health. EMCONET is inviting public comment for the final version of the report.

The network links together researchers from different fields and labour activists from different parts of the world. It is headed by three scientists: Joan Benach (Pompeu Fabra University of Barcelona), Carles Muntaner (University of Toronto), and Vilma Santana (University of Salvador de Bahia).

The CSDH’s other networks cover the following themes: globalization, early child development, health systems, urban settings, measurement and evidence, women and gender equity, social exclusion and public health priorities.

The WHO general report on social inequalities in health is due to be published in 2008.

• Consult the draft report and respond
• The CSDH