How do we make health equity a reality?

 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 cost and location that affect some people more than others in obtaining health care – other barriers include discrimination that people face within health systems, and unequal levels of health literacy between population groups. 

Action: Prioritize the primary health care approach. This emphasizes health as ahuman right, community decision-making in the provision of care close to where people live, and collaboration between sectors to promote and protect health. It is the most equitable way to eliminate health barriers and achieve universal health coverage. 

Second, the health sector needs to take the lead in monitoring health inequities through monitoring health outcomes and health service delivery – as well as working with other sectors to monitor people’s living conditions.

 Action: Disaggregate data by age, sex, education level, and income etc to and health and social services. 

Third, the health sector needs to work with other sectors that can influence health equity and reduce inequities in social services and people’s living conditions, such as education, agriculture, environment, infrastructure, transport, finance, or social protection 

Action: The health sector should:

 • explain the importance of health equity and advocate effectively for action in other sectors, while recognizing these sectors’ own interests and targets;

 • work with other sectors to integrate the delivery of social services and support, and jointly monitor policy impact on health inequities; 

• be involved in the design and implementation of intersectoral governance arrangements that are critical to lead, facilitate and enable joint work between sectors; 

• build the capacity of the health workforce and other sector workforces to foster cooperation and coordination.