Abstract

ZARATE GONZALEZ, Gilda  and  PEREZ, Miguel A.. Social factors as mediators of public health. Salud, Barranquilla [online]. 2007, vol.23, n.2, pp.193-203. ISSN 0120-5552.

The World Health Organization (OMS) defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, not just the absence of disease and illness. Wermuth inferred that 56% of health status variations could be explained by social and ecological factors, 21% by health behaviors, 19% by the quality of health services and public health systems, and only 4% by genes and biological agents. Few governments have designed policies to eradicate health disparities with direct correlation to social factors. Legislators in under developed countries face a plethora of national and local issues with limited resources to solve them within challenging political juncture to prioritize. The goals designed to improve the public's health must compete to raise political awareness and obtain resources within those political circumstances.

Keywords : Social factors; Public Health; Health disparities.

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