Health Equity

Health equity (related, slightly more neutral terms include healthcare inequality and healthcare disparities) refers to the study of differences in the quality of health and health care across different populations. This may include differences in the "presence of disease, health outcomes, or access to health care" across racial, ethnic, sexual orientation and socioeconomic groups. The term "disparities" generally refers to differences of which the writer disapproves; thus, for instance, some definitions of "disparities" do not include differences due to differing access (e.g., due to socioeconomic class).

Differences between populations in the presence of disease and health outcomes are well-documented in many areas. In the United States, disparities are well documented in minority populations such as African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Latinos, with these groups having higher incidence of chronic diseases, higher mortality, and poorer overall health outcomes. For example, the cancer incidence rate among African Americans is 10% higher than among whites, and adult African Americans and Latinos have approximately twice the risk as whites of developing diabetes. Similarly, differences in the overall level of health in individuals also exist between differing social classes, with lower-status socioeconomic groups generally having poorer health and higher rates of chronic illness including obesity, diabetes, and hypertension; whether these are considered disparities to be eliminated depends on the author.

Health equity by some definitions also includes differences in access to health care between populations. For example, those in lower-status socioeconomic groups receive less consistent primary care, which is positively correlated to overall level of health in the recipient. Similarly, in England, "people living in deprived areas were found to receive around 70% less provision relative to need compared with the most affluent areas for both knee and hip replacements."

A lack of health equity is also evident in the developing world, where the importance of equitable access to healthcare has been cited as crucial to achieving many of the Millennium Development Goals. "As the populations of the developed countries are aging and coming to require ever more medical attention, they are sucking away local health talent from developing countries"