Health equity means putting in place policies and allocating resources so that the people with less resources and those who face exclusion and discrimination (on the grounds of race, sex, gender, age, disability, or income) see greater improvements in their health and living conditions faster than those who are better off.  The role of the health sector  The health sector has several important roles in fostering health equity. First, it must do all it can to ensure it promotes health equity by ensuring that everyone can receive high-quality health services when they need them, at an affordable cost (getting sick must not lead to financial hardship). This is known as “ universal health coverage ”, which all countries have committed to achieving by 2030 . But currently, about half of the world’s people do not receive all the essential health services they need, and about 100 million people are driven into poverty each year by the cost of health care. And it is not just ...

  Research shows that social and economic factors account for a substantial proportion of health outcomes . For example, health-sector investments accounted for only half the reduction in under-5 mortality between 1990 and 2010 in low- and middle-income countries (through effective interventions such as immunization and other child health interventions, skilled birth attendance and maternal and newborn services, and family planning). The other half of reductions resulted from health-enhancing investments in other sectors. e.g. improved levels of education, women’s political and socioeconomic participation and environmental management (e.g. for access to clean water, clean fuels and technologies), and reduced levels of fertility and poverty. This shows how all sectors can influence health and well-being , and share accountability for reducing health inequities.

  Unsafe, low-quality, overcrowded housing drives health inequities   by creating the conditions that expose people to violence and injuries and promote ill-health from infectious and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Energy inefficient housing and inadequate incomes create energy poverty – especially for older people with disabilities, young children, and families who spend more time at home. Cold   indoor temperatures   can affect physical and mental health, especially for older people, and impair children’s learning. Extreme   indoor hea t can lead to heat exhaustion, stroke, and heart disease. Poor housing also exposes people to toxic materials,   indoor air pollution   low-quality housing design and maintenance hazards, such as falls.  COVID-19, housing, and health:  COVID-19 has increased people’s exposure to the health risks of poor housing through the global “stay at home” response. Around one billion people live in urban slums and a...

  Healthy diets and good nutrition are critical to health and development for all ages. Better nutrition is linked to improved infant, child, and maternal health; lower risk of illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease; higher productivity and income; and longevity. However, low-income and socially marginalized communities are less likely to have easy access to affordable, safe and nutritious food and are likely to have to travel further to access fresh fruit and vegetables. The exposure of marginalized communities to corporate activity, such as marketing of unhealthy foods, high in sugar and salt, and of sugarsweetened beverages also exacerbates poor nutrition. Currently, 47 million children under the age of 5 years are too thin for their height , while another 38.3 million children under the age of 5 years are overweight. Single parents or lowincome households often do not have the time or money to provide a healthy diet and purchase (often cheaper) junk food high in salt, su...

People with little education are twice as likely to report poor health than those with a tertiary education. Education is connected to lifelong employment, learning, and participation in society and decision-making ; and female literacy in particular results in better outcomes in children’s education, nutrition and life chances; reductions in family violence; and increased use of health services thanks to increased health literacy and better treatment from health services .   COVID-19, education, and health:   UNESCO estimates that globally, 23.8 million children,   adolescents, and youth (from pre-primary to tertiary) were at risk of not returning to school in 2020 as a result of COVID-19, including 11.2 million girls and young women, which could spell the reversal of 20 years of gains made for girls’ education. Without the school platform, and without the access to health and nutrition programmes, hunger, poverty, malnutrition and mental health are exacerbated for h...

  Whether in the home, the community, or the wider environment, health risks resulting from people’s unsafe living conditions proliferate. Three billion people –   40 per cent of the world’s population – have no facilities at home to wash their hand s with water and soap. Nearly half of all schools have no handwashing facilities with water and soap, affecting 900 million school-age children, and  43% of health care settings have no hand hygiene facilities   at points of care where patients are treated. Social disadvantage increases the likelihood that someone will be   exposed to violence in their family or community , directly or indirectly as a witness. In turn, violence – and the poorer health that results from exposure to it can exacerbate social disadvantage.  Currently,  over 7 million people a year die from exposure to air pollution  – 1 in 8 of all deaths. Over 90% of people breathe outdoor air with pollution levels exceeding WHO air quali...

 Transport-related health risks cause the deaths of millions of people annually. For example, WHO estimates that road traffic injuries kill 1.3 million people every year and injure millions more, mostly in low- and middle-income countries. Some 3.2 million deaths annually are due to physical inactivity . However, mobility links that connect people to essential services (food/ retail, jobs, health services, education facilities, public services) are critical to enable people to participate in society, particularly those who have mobility difficulties (older people and people with disabilities) or parents with young children.  COVID-19, mobility, and health: Fear of transmission of COVID-19 and physical distancing measures implemented to reduce transmission have resulted in major changes to mobility patterns around the world , including significant disruptions and reductions in public transport use . These changes have hit more disadvantaged communities hardest – those mor...

 Many studies show poor health is associated with low economic productivity, loss of taxes and reduced quality of life. But this is a two-way relationship, and the impact of the private sector and commercial factors on health and health equity cannot be ignored. This impact is felt through physical and social environments (e.g. street design in disadvantaged neighbourhoods that favours car use; disproportionate targeting of marketing of unhealthy products to low-income communities; or lobbying government against pro-public health policies or social protection for workers such as paid maternity leave); and through institutions, regulatory systems and policies that favour commercial interests over public health, or create barriers for people to access essential goods and services. While the private sector is a critical partner in tackling health inequities , work is needed to strengthen cooperation while protecting against conflicts of interest.  COVID-19, economic and comm...

   On 7 April 2021, World Health Day will be commemorated globally, under the theme “ Together for a fairer, healthier world ”. On this occasion, the World Health Organization (WHO) calls for urgent action to eliminate health inequities and mobilize action to attain better health for all and leave no one behind. Inequities have always existed. Despite improvements in health outcomes globally and in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, these gains have not been shared equally across different countries or communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has had grave consequences for people already experiencing inequities. The pandemic has disproportionately impacted those people already socially, economically, or geographically disadvantaged, and evidence shows a worsening trend of dispararities and inequity across the Region. "Health is a fundamental human right. Every person deserves to live a healthy life regardless of their age, gender, ethnicity, disability, economic situation or employ...

  On World Health Day 2021 , we will be inviting you to join a new campaign to build a fairer, healthier world. We’ll be posting more details here shortly, but here’s why we’re doing this: Our world is an unequal one. As COVID-19 has highlighted, some people are able to live healthier lives and have better access to health services than others - entirely due to the conditions in which they are born, grow, live, work and age.

  All over the world, some groups struggle to make ends meet with little daily income, have poorer housing conditions and education, fewer employment opportunities, experience greater gender inequality, and have little or no access to safe environments, clean water and air, food security and health services. This leads to unnecessary suffering, avoidable illness, and premature death. And it harms our societies and economies.

We are calling on leaders to ensure that everyone has living and working conditions that are conducive to good health.  At the same time we urge leaders to monitor health inequities, and to ensure that all people are able to access quality health services when and where they need them. 

  All over the world, some groups struggle to make ends meet with little daily income, have poorer housing conditions and education, fewer employment opportunities, experience greater gender inequality, and have little or no access to safe environments, clean water and air, food security and health services. This leads to unnecessary suffering, avoidable illness, and premature death. And it harms our societies and economies.

COVID-19 has hit all countries hard, but its impact has been harshest on those communities which were already vulnerable, who are more exposed to the disease, less likely to have access to quality health care services and more likely to experience adverse consequences as a result of measures implemented to contain the pandemic. Hello world, its World Health Day 2021 , it's time to build a fairer healthier world for everyone, everywhere.

We, the undersigned, demand from our governments policies that treat pharmaceuticals as global public goods and limit the power of pharmaceutical companies in the public interest; a policy that is geared to the health needs of the people.  Proposals have been on the table for years. The framework for this fundamental policy change would be the immediate introduction of an international treaty to be negotiated by the World Health Organization, in which governments commit themselves to the obligatory, coordinated research and development of new essential medicines, diagnostics and vaccines. Because this fundamental change of direction has yet to be achieved politically, the following measures must be taken immediately: The establishment of a global patent pool for the simple and cost-effective handling of licensing agreements, based at the WHO. The improvement of data and price transparency in research, development and sales in order to make knowledge widely available and prices fai...

Do you know what evergreening is? Sounds nice, but it's an extremely unfair strategy to extend the 20-year patent protection of medicines. Simply changing the route of administration, playing around with the molecule a bit or finding a new indication and the protection is extended. This way, companies can continue to charge high prices.  Follow the conversation:  #patentskill .   Patents are expensive. Yet they are unfair.

The Year 2020 reveals again how much of the world lacks solidarity. Vaccination doses are reserved by rich countries, masks and respiratory equipment stockpiled. And the Global South will be left empty-handed. While thze patent system continues to focus on profit maximization instead of fair healthcare.  Follow the conversation; We demand with #patentskill : Change the system now!  Unfair patent system vs global solidarity.

Patents protect property. But when it comes to medicines, they kill: Excessively high prices and structural barriers are responsable for millions of deaths every year caused by treatable diseases such as diabetes and tuberculosis. This is the reason why we are calling with #patentskill for the remocal of patent protection on all essential medicines.  Patents guarantee profits,  and kill people.

Harness the power of the arts and culture, and try these 5 cultural activities: Listen to music Dance Visualize - Visualize & formulate a picture . Storytelling -Write down 3 things that happened to you today Connect with your environment

A leading international forum for global health. With science, politics, the private sector, and civil society – with inspiring talks, enhanced cooperations, and new solutions. WORLD HEALTH SUMMIT 2021  From 24 TO 26 OCTOBER 2O21 in Berlin, Germany. During 3 DAYS - 50 SESSIONS - 100 NATIONS - 300 SPEAKERS - 6,000 PARTICIPANTS will debate health issues. WEBINARS The Impact of COVID-19 on Migrant and Refugee Health–M8 Alliance Webinar Series 2021. Migrant Health Issues in Massive Migration Areas in the Covid Period–M8 Alliance Webinar Series 2021. Ensuring the Covid-19 Vaccine Reaches Undocumented Migrants–M8 Alliance Webinar Series 2021 WORLD HEALTH SUMMIT 2020 :  Accelerating SDG3 Global Action Plan for Health and Well-being.  The Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Well-Being for All brings together 12 multilateral health, development, and humanitarian agencies to better support countries and accelerate progress towards health-related Sustainable Development Goals. ...

For World Health Worker Week (5-9 April), let's call on policymakers to listen to health workers and then act for them. Health workers know best what they need to be safer, healthier, and more prepared to end the COVID-19 pandemic, prevent future disease outbreaks, and ensure access to essential services for their communities. This year, we are calling on your support and action to ensure that our health and care workforces are supported, protected, motivated, and equipped to deliver safe health care at all times, not only during COVID-19. Health and care workers have protected the world during COVID-19: We have a moral obligation to protect them. Learn more 2021 as International Year of Health and Care Workers. Sign the Vaccine Equity Declaration

 Between countries: A child born in Lesotho can expect to live to the age of 51 while a child born in Japan can expect to live to 84. Under-5 mortality is more than eight times higher in Africa than in Europe, and developing countries account for 99% of the world’s maternal deaths.  Within countries: Children from the poorest households are twice as likely to die before the age of 5 years than children from the richest households, while children in the poorest 20% of households are over four times more likely to experience severe mental health problems that those in the highest 20%.  Between neighbourhoods: In Glasgow, male life expectancy ranges from 66.2 years in lessadvantaged parts of the city to 81.7 years in more advantaged areas. In London, when travelling east from Westminster on the city’s underground system, each stop represents a drop of nearly a year in life expectancy.

 Health and illness follow a social gradient – the lower a person’s socioeconomic position, the worse their chances for health. This downward slope is the product of the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age, and their access to power, resources and decision-making (the “ social determinants ofhealth ”). These conditions include a person’s education ; income ; access to social protection (e.g. affordable child services, sickness pay, unemployment protection; and pensions); access to quality health services and good nutrition; access to healthy housing and clean air ; and to financial and judicial services.  The quality of these conditions is often made worse by discrimination, stereotyping, and prejudice, which most often affect women and girls, older people, people with disability, or are based on race, ethnicity or sexual identity. Such discrimination occurs not only between individuals, but is often embedded within our institutions and systems, l...