Political determinants of health

During the past decade, the idea that health issues need to be brought into the political arena to advance population health has become part of mainstream public health, often with a reference to famous antecedents like Virchow (‘Politics is nothing but medicine at a larger scale’). Empirical evidence of the impact of politics on population health is, however, scarce. To the extent that recent reviews cover the whole field, the total number of publications with empirical data relating political variables to health outcomes is estimated to be less than a few hundred.1,2 For public health professionals to use the political arena effectively, for example, to promote tobacco and alcohol control, to improve access to health services or to tackle health inequalities, they must not only …