Proof Positive: New Study Shows that Political Ideology Impacts Public Health

For Immediate release – September 14, 2006 (Toronto) – Published in Lancet and released by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), a new study entitled Politics and Health Outcomes makes an empirical link between a government’s political ideology and the health of its citizens. While many have debated the link between public health and politics-- or taken for granted the correlation between the two-- this is the first study to prove a direct relationship.

Led by Dr. Carles Muntaner, CAMH Psychiatric and Addictions Nursing Research Chair and professor at the University of Toronto, this study examined the complex interactions between political traditions, policies and public health outcomes. Dr. Muntaner and colleagues wanted to find out whether different political traditions have been associated with systemic patterns in population health over time.

The researchers focused on selected countries within the Organisation For Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Each was a developed country with democratic representation and a free market economy. Dr. Muntaner and colleagues grouped the countries into four political traditions that governed these countries from 1950 to 2000. The four traditions were: social democratic, Christian democratic (or conservative, in the Judeo-Christian tradition), liberal, and authoritarian conservative (dictatorship).

According Dr. Muntaner, who is also network co-chair at the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health, “we found that parties that provide services to correct social inequalities tend to improve the health of the whole population.” These redistributive polices, such as welfare and childcare assistance, had a positive effect on selected health indicators used in this study, namely infant mortality and life expectancy at birth.

The data clearly demonstrated that long periods of government by pro-redistributive parties, such as those in Scandinavian countries with a social democratic political tradition, result in low infant mortality rates and increased life expectancy. In Scandinavia, the average public social expenditure is 30% of gross domestic product (GDP) and the average public health care expenditure over the past 10 years was 7.2%. Countries mainly governed by liberal parties, including Canada and the United States, have not had as strong a commitment to redistributive polices as either the social democratic or Christian democratic governments. In these countries with liberal political traditions, the average public social expenditure is 24% of GDP, and the average public health expenditure is 5.8% of GDP. This resulted in higher infant mortality rates and decreased life expectancy compared to Scandinavian countries.

While these results have tremendous implications and could encourage government to address social inequalities to improve public health, this is only the beginning.

“Now we need to investigate what specific diseases benefit the most from redistributive policies. We also need to look at what outcomes are most sensitive to health care policies,” said Dr. Muntaner.

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is a specialized teaching hospital fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, and is the largest mental health and addiction facility in Canada. CAMH is also a Pan American Health Organization and a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre.

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For more information or to schedule interviews with survey investigators, please contact Michael Torres, Media Relations Coordinator, CAMH, at (416) 595-6015.