ArticleBMC global and public health2023
Health promotion, the social determinants of health, and urban health: what does a critical discourse analysis of World Health Organization texts reveal about health equity?
Article in BMC global and public health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed.
- Investigation of Differences in Tobacco Use Language Between Groups: Corpus-Assisted Analysis.JMIR infodemiology · 2026Article
- Employer-provided workplace health promotion activities in Poland: evidence from a nationwide cross-sectional survey of full-time employees.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Discourses on children and health in National Public Health Policy documents: examples from Sweden and Norway.Health promotion international · 2026Article
- Policy and Structural Drivers of Malnutrition in Afghan Women: Evidence and Interventions.International journal of women's health · 2026Review
- Healthcare in the Margins: A Qualitative Study of Healthcare Access and Utilization in Bangladesh's Informal Urban Settlements.Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine · 2025Article
- What opportunities exist for the governance of private sector engagement in mixed health systems in the African Region?Journal of global health · 2025Article
- How do World Health Organization technical officers working on noncommunicable diseases approach health equity?International journal for equity in health · 2025Article
- Social Determinants of Health and Antibiotic Consumption.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Assessing health equity inconsistencies in the World Health Organization's Urban HEART initiative: findings from key informant interviews.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Conceptually mapping how investing in essential public health functions (EPHFs) and common goods for health (CGH) can improve health system performance.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- The quest for equity in global health is underpinned by neocolonial discourses: A critical discourse analysis.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- How do high-level African directors of policy and planning operationalize health equity? Findings from a regional survey.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Health equity and distributive justice: views of high-level African policymakers.BMC medical ethics · 2024Article
- Investigating inconsistencies regarding health equity in select World Health Organization texts: a critical discourse analysis of health promotion, social determinants of health, and urban health texts, 2008-2016.BMC global and public health · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
backgroundThe World Health Organization (WHO) has focused on health equity as part of its mandate and broader agenda-consider for example, the "health for all" slogan. However, a recent scoping review determined that there are no studies that investigate the WHO's approach to health equity. Therefore, this study is the first such empirical analysis examining discourses of health equity in WHO texts concerning health promotion, the social determinants of health, and urban health.
methodsWe undertook a critical discourse analysis of select texts that concern health promotion, the social determinants of health, and urban health.
resultsThe findings of this study suggest that (i) underpinning values are consistent in WHO texts' approach to health equity; (ii) WHO texts reiterate that health inequities are socially constructed and mitigatable but leave the 'causes of causes' vague; (iii) despite distinguishing between health "inequities" and "inequalities," there are several instances where these terms are used interchangeably across texts; (iv) WHO texts approach health equity broadly (covering a variety of areas); (v) health equity may be viewed as applicable either throughout the life-course or intergenerationally, which depends on the specific WHO text at hand; and (vi) WHO texts at times use vague or unclear language around how to improve health equity.
conclusionsThis study does not present one definition of health equity and action to be taken. Instead, this study uncovers discourses embedded in WHO texts to spur discussion and deliberate decision-making. This work can also pave the way for further inquiry on other complex key terms or those with embedded values.
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