Equity
What is equity?
Health equity is when all people have the same opportunity to reach their full potential for health and well-being. It is not the same as equality, which means giving everyone the same thing. Equity, on the other hand, means giving everyone what they need.
For example, a girl born in sub-Saharan Africa will need mosquito nets and one of the two newly licensed vaccines to keep her from getting malaria. A girl born in northern Europe, on the other hand, will need to take vitamin D in the winter to strengthen her bones.
Social determinants of health
The concept of equity recognises that the vast majority of differences in health and life expectancy between people are not due to biological differences but to differences in living conditions (the social determinants of health). In other words, the postcode in which we are born – and grow up – is more important in determining our health than the genetic code we are born with. Disadvantaged people will need more and/or different resources to reach the same health status as more advantaged people.
Justice goes one step further, and seeks to correct, at a systemic level, the reasons why not all people are able to achieve their full health potential.
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COLLAPSE
- Health equity(WHO)
MULTIMEDIA MATERIAL
