The need to monitor actions on the social determinants of health

Intersectoral actions, defined as the alignment of strategies and resources between actors from two or more policy sectors to achieve complementary objectives, are central to the health-related sustainable development goals (SDGs). The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Commission on Social Determinants of Health recommended a subset of intersectoral actions to improve health equity in 2008. Intersectoral actions address the social, commercial, cultural, economic, environmental and political determinants of health. Without intersectoral actions, the health sector will probably not achieve SDG , that is, ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages. National governments have committed to and implemented several of these intersectoral actions through multisectoral development and health policy frameworks, including the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, the Rio Political Declaration on Social Determinants of Health, the New Urban Agenda and the Marrakech Ministerial Declaration on Health, Environment and Climate Change. We argue for monitoring intersectoral actions because such assessment draws attention to those government interventions that improve living conditions, but are outside the immediate control of the health sector. These interventions often have established co-benefits across multiple policy sectors (for instance, emission-free public transport systems improve air quality, transport and health). Action monitoring can also strengthen coherence and efficiency across sectors. The SDGs’ extensive multisectoral indicator framework offers health policy-makers the opportunity to link action monitoring to the SDGs, as national governments begin their SDG implementation.