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?

Background The 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. Methods We undertook a critical discourse analysis of select texts that concern health promotion, the social determinants of health, and urban health. Results The 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. Conclusions This 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.