Recording the first lectures of the “SDH HERC Talk” series was successfully concluded on Tuesday 4th of January, 2022.

This lecture series is being put together through the efforts of the Health Equity Research Center, as the only research center in our country focused on equity and also as the secretariat of the Social Determinants of Health Research Network of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran. This lecture series that focuses on social determinants of health (SDH) related subjects, aims to empower the population and also build a proper educational foundation for students, researchers, policy-makers, and all who are interested in such subjects; and we hope that through this, we may play a suitable part in publicizing science and improving the university’s connection with our society.

During recent years, the impact of Social Determinants of Health (SDH) has been greatly noticed both globally and nationally. Throughout the previous decades, medical interventions were believed to be the only factors capable of influencing one’s health, but during the 21st century, undeniable findings proved that the roots of one’s health are based in factors such as household income, nutrition and diet, childhood and early years development, educational level of the children and their parents, and their socio-economic status which are mostly out of health interventions’ scope and reach but never the less, they play a much more critical part in determining physical and mental health and well-being.

Over the course of this recording session, “Toxic Combination” by Dr. Ali Montazery, professor at the Academic Center for Education, Culture and Reseacrh, “Good Governance for Better Health” by Dr. Amirhossein Takian, Head and Professor of Department of Global Health and Public Policy of the school of public health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Deputy of research of HERC, “Medicalization and de-medicalization” by Dr. Aboali Vedadhir, Associate professor at Faculty of Social Sciences of Tehran University, “Education and Health” by Dr. Nastaran Keshavarz Mohammadi, professor at the school of public health of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, and “Air pollution” by Dr. Kazem Naddafi, Head of the school of public health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, were presented and recorded.