HEALTH

“Ideally everyone should have the same opportunity

To attain the highest level of health and more pragmatically none should be disadvantaged” (WHO 1985)

“Ideally everyone should have the same opportunity

To attain the highest level of health and more pragmatically none should be disadvantaged” (WHO 1985)

Introduction

The terms “health equalities”, while hardly household terms among the general public, have by now become familiar to many health practitioners, program managers, and policy-makers as well as researchers in the United Kindom and other countries; “health equity” is a term rarely encountered in the United Kindom but more familiar to public health professionals elsewhere. There is little consensus about what these terms mean, however, and the resulting lack of clarity is not merely of academic concern.

Inequalities in health can exist for a variety of reasons, including geographical location, gender, age, ethnicity, hereditary factors and socio-economic status. Poverty, unemployment, education, access to health services and environmental factors including housing and water quality, all play important roles in determining the health of individuals. Disparities in health status within the population lead to consideration of the links between socioeconomic factors and health'. Department of Health and Children (UK).

Discussion

In the United Kingdom, the health system is fundamentally unequal, allowing those who can afford private care to get more rapid access to a better service45. In United Kingdom there is universal free access to health services. There are, however, common problems across the health services on the island as a whole. A study conducted in 2001 in United Kingdom showed that there were a large number of barriers to accessing services and health care including difficulties due to financial circumstances and time constraints.

Problems with front desk encounters and geographic location, for example, level and cost of public transport, also emerged46. These issues are also of concern in the United Kingdom, where, for example, there is evidence of inequality in access and difficult journeys to specialized care particularly for those in rural areas.

Rural living and physical isolation are barriers that have been cited for older people47, women48 and men49 accessing health services. Concerns have also been expressed in relation to a lack of drug treatment facilities in rural areas in the United Kingdom 50. Poor literacy skills and varying degrees of discrimination are other obstacles identified for specific groups within the population accessing health services.

How one defines “health disparities” or “health equity” can have important policy implications with practical consequences. It can determine not only which measurements are monitored by national, state/provincial, and local governments and international agencies, but also which activities will receive support from resources allocated to address health disparities/inequalities and health equity. This paper aims to clarify the concepts of health disparities/inequalities and health equity, focusing on the implications of different definitions for measuring disparities and pursuing health equity.

The most concise and accessible definition of health disparities/inequalities/ equity was articulated by Margaret Whitehead in the early 1990s as differences in health that “are not only unnecessary and avoidable but, in addition, are ...